Diocese of San Franoisco. 

Death of Judge Baine. 

A good name is better than riches, and good favor is above 
silver and gold.— Proverbs, chap, xxii, v. i. 

The subject of this notice, the late Hon. A. C. 
Baine was born at Raleigh, N..rth Carolina, Sept, 
21, 1810, and died at Clifton, Lander County, Ne- 
vada Territory, Dec. 21, 1863, and was consequent- 
ly, at the time of his decease, 53 vears and 3 months 
of age. The Judge was an early Pioneer in this 
State, and resided with his family, until within the 
last eight months, at Stockton, in which city he 
practiced his profession of Lawyer, winning the re 
speet and esteem of the Bar, as well »s of his fellow 
citizens generally, by his learning and great probity 
He was in religion a strict and devont^Presby terian 
all his life, up to early in the year 1857, when after 
long and careful study on the subject of religion h*- 
embraced the Catholic faith. From this *out he 
seemed to give up his whole mind to the study and 
practice of his newly adopted religion. It became 
the wonder of many of his most intimate friends and 
acquaintances, the implicit and great practical faith 
he at once evidenced, so that his life from the date 
of his conversion tu the moment of his death was one 

jo AV.unuoddo aqj 8ABq nj paiqSijap sbm o' V 
pacujag Udas ojojoq jaAau pBq aq 'asnoq s^qiaj^V 
iX'VT JB suoisbooo snotArJjd omi uo joiisia b uaaq peq 
q qSnoqiju pus f sjaouBtu ajqeaaj^B puB a|qBiuiB jo 
□os-iad Sujss^ssod.jjd pu« acuospuBq jo ubui £u(ioa" b 
baa 9fj 'qojnqQ oqoqiBQ aqi jo jaqtiiatu A\iB[duia 
Kr> pug snoid b mou sba\ aq '. pjojxf) ib sjnouoq qSiq 

peq oq.v\ ij9auoo juaoaj b 4 puB|§ug jo qyou 
qi ni ajBisa ponS pus A"|ihibj tuatouB jo uBUiajiuaS b 
itBj3 aQ piBAApg -jjaj sba\ sjoiisiA aqi isSuoujy 

•uojBap qns aqi Sutaq pjBUjag 'pajBjq 
ajao aq r>i pajqBua sbaa ssbj\[ q§!H l^qi os 'a£<*T[oo 
qi jo sjossajoad aqi jo auo A*q py;uBdmoooB aj8A\ 
r>qi pus '^UBqdKlg; aq; puB SBiuisuqf) uaaMiaq 
uaAiaiui qoiqAv s\«p aA[3A\i aqi joj auioq ib ajaM 
ouiuudf uaqoy puB 'pjBUjag Ssjoiisia jo \\m sbm 
snoq s ; A*q[a§ -jjaj 'Joub^ /CqasaajQ ib auo aAnsaj 
os[B sba\ stqi 'sBUiisijqQ A*ddBq b Suiaq sapisag 

•jsai puy j^Aau ubo 
ooj jfjsaM aqi 'aouaijadxa A*q punnj pBq aqs 'qoiqw 
d ino 'qojnqQ psssqq puB A"joq isqi jo aouany 
ui ari puoA"aq ||iis ajaM oqA\ jaq oi jBap pus jbbu 



Diocese of San Francisco. 
Death of Judge Baine. 

A good name is better than riches, and good favor is above 
silver and gold.— Proverbs, chap, xxii, v. i. 

The subjeel of this notice, the late Hon. A. C. 
Baine was horn at Raleigh, N.rth Carolina, Sept. 
21. 1810, and oVd at Clifton; Lander County, Ne- 
vada Territory, Dec. 21, 1863. and was consequent- 
ly, at the lime of his decease, 53 vears and 3 months 
of aae. The Judge was an early Pioneer in this 
State, and resided with his family, until within the 
last eight months, at Stockton, in which city he 
practiced his prolefsion of Lawyer, winning the re 
sped and esteem of the Bar, as well as of his fellow 
citizens generally, by his learning and great prohiiy 
He was in religion a strict and devout Presbyierian 
all his life, up to early in the year 1857, when after 
lonu- and careful siudy on the subject of religion he 
einoraced the Catholic faith. From this out he 
seemed to give up his whole mind to the sludy and 
practice of his newly adopted religion. It became 
the wonder of many of his most intimate friends and 
acquaintances, the implicit and great practical faith 
he at once evidenced, so that his life from the dale 
of his conversion to the moment ol his death was one 
continued practice of the faith his strong and well 
cultivated mind had adopted, even to the rigid per 
formanie of the most minute detail of the discipline 
and regulations of the Church. He was the author 
of many able articles published in .the Monitor and 
other newspapers in this Slate, all more or less in 
defense ot civil and religious liberty, as understood, 
defined and expounded by the Founders of our Con 
Sliliitional Union — all these breathed the true spirit 
of Christian charily, peace and good will to all men, 
and were singularly happy in their clear elucidation 
ot sound principles and eternal Truih. 

He wrote a work on the harmonious relations be- . 
tween "Divine Faith and Natural Reason." publish [ 
ed in 1861 by John Murphy &. Co., of Baltimore — 
An idea of the value and importance of this work i 
can be ihe best understood by reading the letter of 
Most Rev. Archbishop Alemany, to be found on the 
first page of the book, in which he says, "I consider 
the work very uselnl to the public. I is the offering 
of a Convert — a respectable American citizen, and a 
distinguished member of the Bar." The Judge, pre- 
vious to his unfortunate visit to the Reese River coun 
try, hid been engaged on a work entitled the "Rela- 
tions of Human Liberty to Natural, Moral and Divine 
haw." The manuscript, almost finished, of this 
work is now in possession of his sorely afflicted fam 
ily, and is said by competent authority to be a work 
of the highest merit. Thus has this good man, 
kindest of fathers, and most loving of husbands, been 
always occupied in worthy and noble pursuits — nev 
er dreaming of any pecuniary reward of worloly 
advantage, beyond the quiet consciousness of having 
contributed his mite towards elevating ihe human 
mind above the sordid passions that afflict and ha- 
rass this world here below. His standard of perfec- 
tion was Heaven — and having after many struggles 
wilh old associations and early educalion, he finally 
entered upon the "straight and narrow path," he, 
never loitered nor deviated, until on the 21st instani 
his soul left all that was mortal of Judge Baine, and 
n 'W the only consolation left to his sorrowing family 
and many devoted iriends, is the assurance that that 
soul rests triumphant, in honor, peace and happiness 
in that Ctlestial Kingdom. R>quiescat in pace. 

[Correpondenl Munilo 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 

A V^ Y ° X x? E Humous Relations between Divine 
lf D . Rea s°^ ^ which are added two 

Chapters on the Divine Office of the Church. Bv A 
C. Bakes, Esq., of California. " 7 

I [From an advertiseraent that appeared in our 
columns, we .learned ^Jij^^i^s ^orV and 
•90iAias oqqnd gqj gougiugAUOoni asriBD A'p^it 
A^aB avEOiimraraoo ^on pjnoAV aq TBq; piBS jiounoQ 91^. 
jo ^napisajj qt\% ^nq 'Bjanzgng^ puB a^bji jo sjibjjb 9q> j 
oj 9aiibj9I sjgdBd .iej pgjjBO bSbzojo ^ 'ssg.iScoo gq(). n"' 
,3 l 89 A\ A°H J° sgiuouigjgo gq; joj gqiAgg oj oi? c 
pgpugiai /fjiuiB^ ^Xcji pan uggri£) gqi xeq; prcs sbm ? s 
•1S9J95UI jo sa\9u iBOiinod on uibicioo pg gqi jo S{BtLm< 

PPP^W 9t IX 'P 8 I!' BA 3 J d J9PJ0 p9J.I9d 9.I9qAi£l9A9 

'sjDi.iisip urtqjgo ni noiiBimnB ^gaS £q pgjjjera gag. 
Agqa '.inoq qsod o% dn 'pupn^ %"B f uiBdg .i9ao \y8 soup i 
SaiqBj 9.T9AV suoi/paja iBdioranra rennoB gq^ ^Bp w f I 
•sa^tOQ aq; ni jionnoQ aq; jo ingpisaj^ 9q; £q pgmtqd}^ j 
sb 'A[bti sp-iBAAo; ioqod e}i joj ;ugranjgA0f) gift } 
'•aojsj ^sx gq; jo 'pijpBjsr jo spstuiiof g^igpoai k : 
•ni^dg i- j 

•sgniPipgi j 

TTv'TI P nT? 'sguBogqjodB QZQ'l 'snoaSans a*jbuij3J8a" 960" j 
'ssb[o pnoogs QC£ g.ve gaaq; 'Eie'eS^'LT J° norjBindod ? 
Suocub 'Bissn.Tj ni j^qj sg;i?;s dijdznf) ppfiaqjg aHj, 

'16Z.T ni 'gociBj^ um 
gdBOsg 0; pa.iOABgpna 'A|iraiy siq q;iA\. 'qojBoom g;But 
-jojuti |Bqj uaqA\. 'sgnnajB^ ;b 'IAX s ! l10r [ pg;sg.UB pi 1 
pszinSoogj oqM. 'pinoqpngj^r jo jg;sciU4Sod snouxej 9i ; 
jo aaq^ojq oq; si 'aAaijgq 9M ^guojQ j\[ "cq}0£) y& a 
-sbj\[ {gduqo aoiqd gqj spjoq g5>B jeg.iS b ^b 'Avon 'o^ 
i"an;uGO b j[Bq jo jg^B[d g]uu pg^iuqgjgo gq^ i?noiT(T 



. • 'sooa 
'^l 'laaHis-NVKiiaaa 

W 



4 sqnvs 29 tivh 'aaaaff 



isMggJopnfl SmqsiaJtu ' 00 g ;[y, f A. If f -pajjculris ^a^jjvjj. 



NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



Ax Essay ox the Harmonious Relations between Divine 
Faith and Natural Reason, to which nre added two' 
Chapters on the Divine Office of the Church Bv 4 
C. Baixes, Esq., of California. " ' 

[From an advertisement that appeared in our 
columns, we learned of Judge Baines's work, and 
we would, before now, have noticed it, except' that 
neither author nor publisher sent us a copy. Meet- 
ing an esteemed friend who had read the volume, 
and whose judgment we entirely respect, we asked 
him to write the following notice, which speaks 
abundantly for itself.] 

Judge Baines, of California, is a man of earnest- 
ness and originality. He grapples fearlessly with 
the .religions questions and difficulties of the dav, 
and with marked candor ; he is a live man, and ] 
takes them up from a new point of view. His book ' 
should be read by all who take an interest in theo- ' 
logical discussions, whatever may be their creed, I 
and especially by those who are interested in finding ' 
out the true Church. 

There are some expressions which we would de- 
sire to see changed in a second edition ; for although: 
in the introduction to the essay the author says : 
" In its thoughts no sentiment will be found inimi- 
cal to the' dignity and sovereignty of reason," (p. 8), 
we fear, however, some such sentiments «have es- 
caped from his pen. 

For instance, iu page 1G, " Human reason, or 
natural reason," he says, " in its ruins or debase- 
ments, in the presence of these revealed truths and 
mysteries, as taught by the Church, had to stand 
abashed in profoundest humility and conscious 
degradation." Again, page 19, " The utmost pride 
of human reason must be humbled and confounded 
in the presence of any supernatural revelation." 
Now, those expressions do not seem to us to square 
exactly with the " dignity and sovereignty of rea- 
i son ;" and especially so, since the author himself 
tells us that " Human reason remains erect and 
, supreme in its own dominion after, as before, it 
consented to believe the facts it does not compre- 
! bend," (p. 23). And again : " It is manifest that 
1 every fact which reason knows through faith, by a 
revelation from the supernatural order, is so much 
additional knowledge. Revelation, as a fact, and 
of a fact, is an extension of knowledge, and not an 
abolition of reason," (p. 95.) 

We find the following language on page 70 : 
" The revelation was infallible ; reason is always fal- 
lible." And on page 151, "Reason, then, the 
Church tells her children, is not a standaffi of Di- 
vine faith. It is not such, because reason is anil 
always has been fallible." As these statements 
stand, they are not taught by the CkrJreh, nor held 
by «ur respected author ; for his whole book is an 
argument of reason addressed to reason, and if 
" reason is and always has been fallible," it is folly 
to attempt to convince it, for it won't pay. " If the 
blind lead the blind both will fall into the ditch." 
Every intelligent Catholic knows that unless reason 
excludes all fear of error in its own sphere, we 
never can come to or make an act of Divine faith. 

Speaking of the Catholic Church, he says, page 
32 : " There is no other Church which pretends to 
date its origin back to the Apostles." There are 
several, if we be not in error, who do make this 
pretension, and the Apostolic succession of some of 
which the Catholic Church does not deny ; take, 
for example, the Greek Church. 

With these corrections, we wish more such books 
were addressed to our fellow-countrymen, and we 
hope that onr author will not drop his pin, but let 
us hear from him again and again 



THE WIFE OF GEN. DENT, 

Gen. Grant's brother-in-law, is the daughter 
of the Hon. A. C. Baine, of California, whose 
able work in defence of the doctrines of the 
Catholic Church, published six or eight 
years ago, has, doubtless, been read by 
many of your readers. Mr. Baine was a na^ 
tive of North Carolina, but was taken to 
Mississippi, by his parents, when quite 
young. He received a good education,studied 
law, served in the Mississippi Legislature, 
and was the predecessor of your friend, John 
Dowling, Esq., in editing the Jackson Southron. 
then, (in 1847,) and subsequently, the lead- 
ing organ of the Whig, or Union, party in 
that State. I knew Mr. Baine well, but it 
was before his investigations had led him tc 
embrace the Catholic faith. He was a most 
amiable and gentlemanly man, and died, at 
a comparatively early age, in California, a 
devoted member of the Church. I am not 
advised as to whether Mrs. Gen. Dent is, or 
is not, a Catholic. Her husband is a great 
favorite ^vith his distinguished brother-in-/ 
law. 



V £ v < * 



AN" ESSAY 



ON THE 



Harmonious Relations 



BETWEEN 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED 

TWO CHAPTEES 

ON THE 

Divine Office of the Church, 

By A. C. BAINE, Esq. 



WITH THE APPROBATION OF THE 

Most Reverend, the Archbishop of Baltimore. 



BALTIMORE: 
Published by John Murphy & Co, 

San Francisco... M. Flood. 
London... Catholic Publishing Company. 

SOLD BT ALL CATHOLIC BOOKSELLERS, 

18 61. 



Entered, according to the act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred 
and sixty, by John Murphy, in the Clerk's Offioe of the District 
Court of Maryland. 



San Francisco, J^ay 12, i860. 

(X)ear G-entlemen : 

In transmitting- to you the Essay of Judge 
fi. C. Fjaine, for publication, I feel pleasure in 
stating that I consider the work very useful to 
the public. It is the offering of a convert— 
a respectable Jlmerican citizen, and a distin- 
guished member of the I$ar — who feels for the 
spiritual interest of his fellow citizens, and who, 
having obtained the treasure of the true faith, 
sincerely desires that others may be equally 
blessed. ^Thus he devotes his logical mind to 
prove that the Catholic Church is, as she was, 
the 2~e ac her , vested with G-od's commission, 
to impart Christian revelation. 1 'his is done 
in a style rather new, yet forcible — familiar, yet 
conclusive. ^he judge makes out the case of 
the Church, as in a Court of Justice, and he 
cannot fail obtaining from all impartial rea- 
ders a favorable verdict. 

Respectfully yours, 

JOSE CP H S. J1L E JAJIJT 3T, 

jfirchbishop of San Francisco. 

J&essrs. John Jdurphy Co. 

Baltimore. 



PREFACE. 

The object of this little volume is to show the Har- 
monious Relations between Divine Faith and Natural 
Reason : and thus establish that the Church, in teaching 
the divine revelation committed to the Apostles, usurps 
no province, restrains no legitimate operation, and vio- 
lates no real sanction of either reason, common sense, 
or experience. As a sequence to this, it is the further 
design, or hope rather, of this work, to present the case 
in such a point of view, as to induce every candid and 
just-minded man to ascertain the faith which the Church 
teaches her children, from her own standards of faith, 
and not to take her teaching upon the declamatory tra- 
ditions and historical assertions of her accusers. To this 
much of simple justice she, and all her children, think 
she is entitled from all men of whatever persuasion. 

It is a principle of universal jurisprudence that no 
man, not even the most lowly culprit, shall be con- 
demned unheard, no matter how fierce his accusers may 
be, and no matter how terrible the crimes they may lay 
to his charge. The judge who would condemn any man 
upon mere clamor, without any investigation into the 
actual conduct of the person accused, would be consid- 
ered both cruel and unjust. And the Church feels 
most profoundly, and earnestly insists, that whoever 
denounces her teaching without learning from her own 
standards of faith exactly what she does teach as divine 
1* 



6 



PREFACE. 



faith, is at once unjust to her and to his own intellect 
and soul. 

It has been the accusation of ages against the Church, 
that she usurps the provinces of reason, common sense, 
and experience in teaching divine faith to her children ; 
and millions upon millions of men have accepted the 
accusation as true, without ever having seen one of her 
catechisms or any standard of her faith, written by 
one of her recognized teachers. Indeed, her accusers 
doom her to their hate without even consulting her 
theologians and historians, so that they are ignorant 
of both her faith and her theology. And I respectfully 
appeal to any who now condemn her, whether they do 
so because they have read and understood the teaching 
of her authorized doctors, or whether they do not do it 
upon the historical assertions of her enemies and their 
denunciations of her faith. It is, then, a purpose of this 
Essay to induce investigation into the very truths the 
Church actually teaches, and also, to take those who 
have adopted the traditions of her accusers, into the sanc- 
tuary of reason, and at the foot of the altar of reason, to 
inquire of that unbiassed oracle whether the accusations 
against the Church be true or not. And whoever will 
carefully, in a candid spirit of inquiry, read this little 
book, will find, as we devoutly trust, that the Church — 
so far from chaining reason down to abasement — teaches 
a faith entirely consistent with this noble faculty of our 
nature. We believe that he will be convinced that the 
faith the Church teaches her children is an extension of 
knowledge, and not an abolition of reason. If God did 
reveal a faith to be perpetually taught to man, it must 
follow that whoever will, earnestly and honestly, ex- 
amine the real relations which exist between this di- 



PREFACE. 



7 



vinely revealed faith and human reason, will he irre- 
sistibly forced to the conclusion, that these relations 
are perfectly harmonious. This is a self-evident teach- 
ing of both faith and reason. And hence the truth of 
the accusation against the Church, that she either 
debases or annihilates reason in her teaching, necessa- 
rily depends upon a simple and most elementary fact; 
which is : Does she teach the very faith, the exact truth, 
which was deposited with her when she was organized 
and commanded to teach all nations forever? If she 
does, the charge that she teaches any thing contrary 
to reason, is — must be, entirely without foundation. But 
this elementary fact can never be ascertained by taking 
traditionary denunciation and historical clamor as true. 
It can only be ascertained by an unbiased investigation 
of her standards of faith, as taught by her recognized 
and lawfully consecrated teachers. And these so ascer- 
tained, reason, when rightly interrogated and truly in- 
terpreted, brings no charge against the Church of usurp- 
ing her sovereignty and of subjugating her powers. 
On the contrary, she regards the Church as her di- 
vine assistant in all her struggles, and as her heaven- 
born guide into new realms of thought, and new king- 
doms of extended knowledge and power, everywhere, 
in nature and. super-nature, nurturing her strength, 
assuring her powers, chastening and purifying all her 
exertions ; and as impressing infallibility upon her con- 
clusions, in the things pertaining to divine revelation. 
This is the just and real relation which faith sustains 
towards natural reason; and the Church takes the 
utmost pains, and exerts a perpetual solicitude, to teach 
the sacred observance of this relation, in all its integrity, 
to her children. She claims to do this. Whether her 



8 



PREFACE. 



claim be founded in fact or not, can only be ascertained 
from an investigation of her own standards of doc- 
trine. And whoever will, from these, ascertain what 
she does teach, instead of taking as true the traditions 
of accusation which her adversaries have perpetuated 
against her, will assuredly find the truth to be as it is 
now stated, touching the teaching of the Church, on the 
relation of divine faith to human reason. 

To show the truth of this assertion and, thereby, to 
induce the investigation which is suggested, is the pur- 
pose of the following Essay. In its thoughts, no senti- 
ment will be found inimical to the dignity and sov- 
ereignty of reason. That it speaks the language of the 
Church upon its subject, is seen by the recommendation 
of one of her learned and holy doctors, to whom I 
humbly dedicate the work. 

THE AUTHOR. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



SECTION I. 

In the Light of Season, an Infallible Teacher a Necessity 
of a Divine Kevelation 18 



SECTION II. 

The Example of the Bereans, or the Duty of Eeason to 
inquire into the Grounds of the Faith of the Infalli- 
ble Church 31 



SECTION III. 

Those who reject the Teaching of the Infallible Church, 
without a Careful Examination of its Standards of 
Faith, as the Bereans did the Teaching of St. Paul, do 
not use Eeason, but submit to the Temper of the 
Thessalonians. Clamor and Persecution the sure In- 
dicia of Prejudice and Non-investigation — but never 
the Criterion of Eeason 53 



SECTION rv. 

The Antecedent Probability that if a Divine Eevelation 
were made to be taught through all time, that an 
Order of Teachers would be consecrated to teach it 
with Infallible Certainty ; or that a Divine Eevelation 
commanded to be taught, would be taught in Accord- 
ance with the Will of the Eevealer, and, therefore, 
Truly, and not Erroneously 73 



10 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



SECTION V. 

What did the Sacerdotal Order, the Apostles, teach? By 
what Authority ? With what Intolerance to Innova- 
tion? and with what Eigorous Consistency, and, 
hence, Especial Exclusiveness ? The Position of 



Natural Eeason in Eelation to the Teaching of the 
Sacerdotal Order 87 

SECTION VI. 
What is the Evidence of what the Sacerdotal Order taught, 
and the institutions the Apostles established? And 
how shall this Evidence be investigated ? 105 

SECTION VII. 
The Province of Eeason, and the Province of Faith 131 

SECTION VIII. 
Eeason not the Standard or Eule of Divine Faith 151 

SECTION DL 

Human Experience not the Standard or Eule of Divine 
Faith 169 

SECTION X. 

Common Sense not the Standard or Eule of Divine 
Faith 188 



SECTION XI. 

Pecuniary Prosperity and Material Power in Individuals 

and Nations not a Standard or Eule of Divine Faith . . 218 

SECTION XII. 

The Governments or Political Constitutions of States not 
the Standard or Eule of Divine Faith 240 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



11 



SECTION XIII. 

The Senses of Tasting, Smelling, Seeing, and Touching, 
not the Standards of Divine Faith; nor are they 
Essential or Material Elements entering into the Eule, 
and constituting its Substance and Validity : they are 
not Criteria of a Divine Eevelation at all. Hearing, 
the Organ of Divine Faith 283 



SECTION XIV. 

The Question. The Question never is, "What is Man's 
Eeason, his Experience, his Common Sense, or his 
Tastes and Opinions ? but it always is, What has God 
Revealed 1 The Supremacy of Faith in the Natural 
Order is taught by all our Natural Knowledge : but in 
the Supernatural Order, the Supremacy of Faith is a 
Matter of Necessity. Our Natural and Mental Consti- 
tutions give undoubted Testimony to these Propo- 
sitions 315 



APPENDIX. 

Introduction 863 

CHAPTER I. 

The Infallibility of the Church in her Office of teaching 
Divine Eevelation examined 365 



CHAPTEE II. 
The Infallibility of the Church in her Office of teaching 
Divine Eevelation. Objections considered. The 
Church is her own Witness. " The Vicious Circle," 
a Misstatement of the Question. It is First, Sinister; 
Secondly, Absurd; Thirdly, Necessarily Untrue. It 
is Unreasonable and Incredible 386 



Divine Faith and Natural Reason. 



section I. 

In the Light of Reason, an Infallible Teacher a 
Necessity of a Divine Revelation. 

The relation which every human being sus- 
tains to the supernatural world, ought to be a 
subject of most earnest inquiry. It should 
excite the highest sentiments of duty, and the 
purest regard and holiest love for the obliga- 
tions which that relation imposes upon the 
soul of man. That God, the Father of the 
spirit of man, which, in its birth and origin, 
he made innocent and holy, looks on this rela- 
tion of humanity with supreme interest and 
regard, is evinced in all his dealings with 
our race. And in a most especial manner has 
he evinced it by his revelation of himself in 
his Son Jesus Christ, whose especial mission 

was to recall man from the dreadful and 

2 



14 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ruinous errors into which he had, seemingly, 
irremediably fallen, and to replace him again 
in his true relation to his Creator. Hence, 
humanly speaking at least, the necessity of the 
divine revelation to man by Jesus Christ. 
And as this revelation was to be taught, by 
an order of teachers divinely consecrated,, to 
all nations, to the end of the world, the 
necessity of an infallible teacher and teaching 
is as manifest and self-evident an instruction 
of reason, as the necessity of a divine revela- 
tion itself. For the very idea of a teacher 
of divine revelation implies, as inseparable 
from its nature and office, the idea of infallible 
authority, or security from error in the teacher. 
This is as plain a dictate of common sense, 
as it is the undoubted teaching of the Catholic 
Church. It cannot be a dictate of any just 
principle of the human mind, operating free 
from error, that Christ would reveal a system 
of faith, for the salvation of the human race, 
and yet at the same time commission a Church 
to teach error concerning the facts so revealed 
and commanded to be taught. "Why was 
Christ conceived in the womb of a virgin by 
the overshadowing power of the Holy Ghost, 
— why did he assume his sacred humanity, die 
on the cross — promise the Holy Ghost to his 
Church, and signally fulfil the promise on the 



NATURAL REASON. 



15 



day of Pentecost \ To reveal infallible truth, 
in an enduring and everlasting form. It can- 
not be that the grandest and most inexplicable 
mysteries were revealed in order to propa- 
gate error, or indifferent and non-essential 
truths. 

The capacities of the human mind had 
become so enfeebled, by the original disobe- 
dience and the accumulations of error conse- 
quent upon the primal crime, that it could not 
have sustained, or even have embraced, revealed 
truth without supernatural aid. The state of 
man hence demanded a revelation of infallible 
truth, which it was necessary should be taught, 
with divine authority, to all nations for all 
time. 

The capacities of the human mind had be- 
come so abased, that it could not recover the 
truths it had lost at the original disobedience ; 
and when the tremendous mysteries we have 
enumerated were taught by the Church to the 
world, it surely was not a legitimate argu- 
ment, lying in the mouths of a race so sunken 
and debauched, against her authority to al- 
lege that the revelations of her divine Master 
and Founder were contradictory to reason. I 
wish, I reverentially entreat, every Christian 
who condemns the teaching of the infallible 
Church, to note the proposition, and I repeat 



16 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



it : " And when the tremendous mysteries we 
have enumerated were taught by the Church 
to the world, it surely was not a legitimate 
argument against her authority to allege, that 
the revelations of her divine Master and Foun- 
der were contradictory to reason." No Chris- 
tian can admit any such principle. This, I 
trust, will be seen much more fully, and as 
clearly as demonstration, in the following sec- 
tions. Human reason, or natural reason, in 
its ruins and debasement, in the presence of 
these revealed truths and mysteries, as taught 
by the Church, had to stand abashed in pro- 
foundest humility and conscious degradation, 
and then, as ever, to confess its utter unfit- 
ness to sit in judgment upon a supernatural 
or divine revelation — that system of faith 
taught by Christ to his Church. The fallibil- 
ity of human reason, when brought into the 
supernatural presence of divine faith, or a di- 
vinely revealed fact, at once shows that reason 
has no jurisdiction over the revealed truth. 
Their necessary relations are the obedience, by 
reason, to the teachings of faith. And if hu- 
man reason could not contradict revealed truth, 
as taught by the Church (with its original 
authority and composition), how did reason 
acquire this right, when the same faith was 
taught by the immediate, or any consecrated, 



NATURAL REASON. 



17 



successors of the Apostles ? It is with no or- 
dinary respect for the mind and heart of those 
who differ from the Church, that this question 
is put and pressed upon their earnest and 
profound attention and investigation ; for rea- 
son itself teaches, that to the divine system of 
faith, " once delivered to the saints," and for 
which St. Jude exhorted the Church to con* 
tend earnestly, the Church must always hold 
the same relation which she did at the first. 
To this system of divinely revealed truths the 
Church has held — always must hold — the same 
relation that she did at her institution. I put 
it to the candor of every investigating mind, 
if this be not a self-evident teaching of reason 
in its purity, refinement, and strength % Hu- 
man reason, in the strictly natural order, was 
doubtless indirectly invigorated and enlighten- 
ed by the death of Christ. But it is, doubtless, 
alike true that the great purpose of his mis- 
sion and passion was to enlighten faith, the 
foundation of human reason and action, and 
in obedience to which reason exerts its solid, 
graceful, acute, and most excellent powers. 
He died to reveal to us, through his Church, 
supernatural truths; that is, truths which no 
natural reason, however strong, disciplined, 
and subtle, could ever discover. The majority 

of mankind, from the creation, had so far 

2 2* 



18 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



failed from approximating to the discovery 
of these revealed mysteries, by the use of 
their reason, that they had actually retrograd- 
ed, until they had become filled with all un- 
righteousness, fornication, wickedness, covet- 
ousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, 
deceit, debate, malignity; whisperers, back- 
biters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boast- 
ers, inventors of evil things, disobedient 
to parents, without understanding, covenant 
breakers, without natural affection, implacable, 
unmerciful. These and other disgusting crimes, 
as recorded in the first chapter of Romans (I 
quote throughout this essay from the Protestant 
version), they not only did, but took pleasure in 
doing. It is thus seen that the majority of 
mankind had corrupted nearly the whole of the 
revelation committed to Adam and his pos- 
terity. The only portion of this revelation 
which had been almost universally retained, 
was that which taught that there was another 
state of existence beyond the present. This, 
with more or less dimness and confusion, is, 
we believe, retained to this day by all pagan 
tribes ; none, at least, have been discovered 
who do not hold to this tradition. From 
these considerations it follows that the system 
of faith, the doctrines revealed by Christ, 
were not discoverable by human reason ; and 



NATURAL REASON. 



19 



if her invention was inadequate to their dis- 
covery, it is not perceived why she should 
assume to judge of their nature by her powers 
of comprehension, and discredit them if her 
capacities failed to fathom their philosophy 
in relation to her puny self. A fact surely 
may be revealed to reason which she cannot 
comprehend; and her want of comprehen- 
sion cannot annihilate a fact which exists. 
Reason teaches this, with all the inexorable- 
ness that the infallible Church herself teaches 
it, when she enforces the truths of divine reve- 
lation, without peculiar regard to the behests 
of any portion of the human mind, save its 
faith. The utmost pride of human reason 
must be humbled and confounded in the pres- 
ence of any supernatural revelation ; and faith 
must come to her relief in her confusion, and 
attest it true, simply because God has revealed 
the facts, under circumstances which no in- 
credulity can deny — unless it be atheistic in- 
credulity. Hence, it is a necessary conclusion 
that the faith, or the truth, revealed, is infal- 
lible truth : it must be infallibly true — a ne- 
cessary fact. 

And if this revealed faith was committed 
to the Church to teach, it is certainly true 
that she, in teaching it, must teach infallibly ; 
for she is an authority in which Christ abides, 



20 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



according to his promise, and which cannot 
err. If man is taught any thing concerning 
his relations and duties to the supernatural 
world, more than his natural reason can dis^ 
cover by observing the facts of nature in the 
material universe, it is obvious he must be 
so taught by a divine revelation. And it is 
equally manifest, that when such divine reve- 
lation was made, natural reason was bouud to 
obey its commands, when made in the form 
of a command. She could not get clear of the 
fact and obligations of the revelation, by a 
plea of her own incapacity to comprehend 
their philosophy. Natural reason instructs 
us that all the institutions which the revelation 
established, and all the social and religious ob^ 
servances it enjoined, must be observed and 
fulfilled. The authority of the supernatural 
revelation would certainly be an infallible: 
guide to fallible reason, and she would have 
no need of her own philosophy and comprer 
hension in her obedience ; otherwise such a 
revelation would be valueless and nugatory.:- 
I beseech the kind reader, who does me the 
honor to read this humble production, to stop 
and ponder upon this — shall I say truth? — 
yes ! this truth. 

Such a revelation, in its nature, excludes 
the idea of its facts and obligations being 



NATURAL REASON. 



21 



contradicted by natural reason. The necessity 
of a revelation includes the necessity of strict, 
perfect obedience to the duties and obliga- 
tions revealed. If natural reason were legiti- 
mately to contradict a supernatural revela- 
tion, then the same reason would determine 
the necessity of the revelation. And we must 
admit such a revelation from a divine being 
to be of infallible authority, or we are driven 
to deny the existence of any divine revelation 
at all. There is no escape from the dilemma. 
The mightiest intellect, inspired by the acutest 
genius, cannot be released from it. All the 
facts in the existence of our Saviour, from 
the conception of the blessed virgin Mary 
to his ascension into heaven, in the presence 
of his Church, after his resurrection, are not 
untrue because of reason's incomprehension 
of their natural philosophy. If natural phi- 
losophy be the standard of supernatural facts, 
the criterion of their existence and truth, it is 
demanded of the greatest natural philosopher 
the world has produced, upon what principles 
of natural reason it is so f The proposition 
is absurd — the terms are logical contradictions. 
Natural philosophers can disprove all natural 
facts if such a principle be a criterion of faith, 
for there is no fact, but some unintelligent 
natural or human philosopher is ignorant of 



22 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



its rationale. Indeed, to come to strict truth, 
in its nltimate, there is no natural fact or 
phenomenon which natural philosophers do 
comprehend. Let one of them explain the 
nature of human and all animal life — the ex- 1 \ 
istence and nature of vegetable life, from the 1 
germ to the decay of all vegetation — the co- 
hesiveness of the universe — the sources of 
gravitation. Human philosophers are extreme- 
ly tenacious — remarkably jealous of their 
canon of faith, which is, that they will believe 
no fact that their reason cannot comprehend. 
But will they tell us what is the substance 
of light— oi what material it is composed? 
How do its component portions of material 
substances originate and propel from their 
womb that phenomenon we call light ? Who 
is its father? If our philosophers cannot, 
with their boasted canon of reason, resolve 
these questions of the natural order, we are 
certainly not discourteous when we affirm 
their impudence or supreme ignorance in the 
application of their canon of faith to a divine 
and supernatural revelation. It can be no 
discourtesy to any natural man, however ex- 
alted his intellectual capacities in their native 
endowments, however purified and disciplined 
into vigor and strength by cultivation, how- 
ever refined and acute by intense devotion 



NATURAL REASON. 



23 



to scientific pursuits in the natural order, 
to believe his reason wholly, utterly incapa- 
ble to measure the power, will, and reason 
of Almighty God in a divine revelation. In 
other words, it is no discourtesy, but a solemn 
duty, to deny to him an equality, in endow- 
ments, with our common Creator. And, in 
obedience to duty, we do deny his right and 
capacity to sit in judgment upon the divine 
revelations of Jesus Christ and to annul then- 
nature, necessity, and goodness, by an act 
of his natural reason. The conception of the 
blessed virgin Mary' by the power of the 
Holy Ghost — the birth of our blessed Saviour 
from a virgin, immaculately conceived — God 
cradled in a manger, his sacred humanity, " 
his crucifixion, his death and resurrection, 
his commission to his Church, and the gift 
of the Holy Ghost to that Church — are su- 
pernatural facts, known to us by divine rev- 
elation; and they are mysteries higher and 
more hidden from natural reason, than are 
the womb and birth-place and substance of 
light ; but neither system of mysteries destroys 
human reason. It remains erect and supreme 
in its own dominion after, as before, it con- 
sented to believe the facts it does not com- 
prehend. 

At the institution of the Church she taught 



24 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



the supernatural facts of divine revelation, 
and denounced judgment upon those who 
refused to believe, without regard to the plea 
that reason gave them no evidence of the faith 
propounded for their acceptance and practice. 
What the Church did at her institution, she 
does yet. She makes no war upon reason, but 
she sternly rebukes reason when it invades the 
province of faith. The holy Catholic Church 
knows, and so instructs the world, that natural 
reason cannot weigh and measure the facts 
of divine revelation by her feeble, limited, 
and ruined capacity. The mysteries of divine 
revelation are not to be annulled because puny 
reason cannot unravel them and weave them 
into harmony with her philosophy. These 
mysteries are the foundation of the Church 
which was to " teach all nations" whatsoever 
Christ had commanded her, before his ascen- 
sion; and the Church received the Holy 
Ghost to bring to her remembrance all the 
things which had been commanded, and to 
guide her into all truth, and this spirit was 
promised to abide with her forever. It is 
obvious that none of these things are on a level 
with natural reason. It is equally obvious 
that reason could not perpetuate them any 
more than she could invent or originate them, 
nor could any other power of the human soul. 



NATURAL REASON. 



25 



If any could, the Holy Ghost would not have 
been given as a perpetual remembrancer and 
guide into all truth. If reason could have per- 
petuated the infallible truth revealed to the 
Church, the supernatural power of the Holy 
Ghost to be her remembrancer and guide, in 
addition to reason, would not have been re- 
quired or given. Reason may safely affirm 
that God would do neither a vain nor an un- 
necessary thing to perpetuate the divine truth 
committed to his apostolic Church, to teach 
to all nations to the end of the world. So 
that we conclude, upon the most certain prin- 
ciple of reason herself, that she was not only 
inadequate to originate or invent the divine 
truths of revelation, but, also, that she had no 
capacity to perpetuate them in their original 
purity and integrity, or else the Holy Ghost 
had not been given for this special purpose. 
Let reason now be put to the rack and inter- 
rogated under torture, and she will tell you 
that she is not equal to all or any of this 
scheme of divine faith and mystery. What 
then did our Saviour command his Apostolic 
Church to teach ? Those who protest against 
the teaching of the Church, and who make 
their canon of reason supreme and contra- 
dictory to divine faith, must believe that this 

Church was restricted to teaching a system 

s 



26 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



strictly in accordance and agreement with, 
and not of a superior order to, the system 
of natural and mental philosophy to which 
they adhere, when they protest against the 
teaching of the Church, because, as they al- 
lege, she teaches for a revelation from God 
facts which are contrary to their reason. 

Is this not the analysis, the fact of their 
creed I We appeal to them, with all the fra- 
ternity of our nature, to examine the fact, 
and the principle of their position in relation 
to the divine faith the Church has always, 
and now teaches. Approach with us the ex- 
amination of the principle, with the utmost 
candor and most perfect good-will. The truth 
of God is not a matter for hot blood and dis- 
ingenuous prevarication. Its investigation 
demands the sincerest honesty, the utmost 
simplicity, and the purest regard for those 
with whom we investigate its teachings. Then 
let us repeat the substance of the statement, 
and let it be examined in the spirit we invoke 
for its investigation. We say, then, that those 
who protest against the teaching by the Church 
of the faith revealed to her, because it is con- 
trary to their reason, must maintain the prin- 
ciple (however covertly it has insinuated itself 
among, and however secretly it has concealed 
itself with the foundations of their doctrines) 



NATURAL REASON. 



27 



that the Apostolic Church was restricted to 
teaching a revelation from God, so as to make 
the revealed truth accord, agree with, and not 
go above, or out of, the rationale of the sys- 
tems of natural or mental philosophy to which 
they adhere, as being the principles of right 
reason, and to which, in their judgment, hu- 
man faith must conform, in the divine order 
as well as in the natural order. This is a 
statement not to be questioned without a 
thought. It demands to be pondered ; its idea, 
and the elemental thought it evolves, both re- 
quire a sincere consideration. Pride of opin- 
ion has nothing to do with it. A sincere 
reverence for truth and the eternal welfare 
of all men, should be the handmaidens of its 
analysis. We take it as granted that it is 
true. We know that large and numerous 
classes will not call it in question, as the 
foundation of their protest against the revealed 
faith which the Church teaches by the com- 
mand of her divine Head. Now this decree 
of reason, this protest that all faith not levelled 
down to the analyzation of human endowments 
is therefore necessarily false, reduces the su- 
pernatural to the natural — it humanizes divine 
revelation, and denies its superiority to man's 
endowments. It makes the divinest things 
merely human ; or, rather, in all things equal, 



28 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



and in nothing superior, to humanity. Are 
not these just conceptions of the nature and 
influence of the canon of human reason and 
the understanding, when they are erected into 
supreme pontiffs, to decide upon revealed 
faith? Be it always remembered, that the 
blessed Jesus did not come to reveal systems 
of either natural or mental philosophy to his 
Church. 

The world had no need of a divine reve- 
lation to teach either, for neither concerned 
the relations which subsist between every soul 
of man and the supernatural world. And 
these relations are all it concerned man to 
know, and to give a just knowledge of which 
constituted the whole necessity for a divine 
revelation, so far as human reason is informed ; 
and, so far, she teaches with all the fearless- 
ness of perfect assurance. Hence, the Church 
teaches a divine revelation, and not a system 
of "humanities." She was constituted, or- 
ganized, to teach the divine faith as revealed 
to her by her divine Founder, and not to teach 
natural or mental philosophy. In teaching 
the faith revealed to her, under the guidance 
of the Holy Ghost, which always abides with 
her, she cannot err — she teaches infallibly 
the truth of God, in spirituals and the super- 
natural order. She teaches truth infallibly, 



NATURAL REASON. 



29 



because it is the very truth revealed to her 
concerniug man's relations to the spiritual 
and supernatural world, and the Supreme 
Ruler of that world. God, hence, is always, 
unto the consummation of the world, teaching 
through his Church ; and the Church, which is 
kept in perpetual remembrance of these very 
truths by the Holy Ghost abiding in her, to 
guide her into all truth which her divine 
Founder taught to her when she was organ- 
ized, is necessarily — beyond human contradic- 
tion — the keeper of his faith and the treasury of 
his mercies. He that denies this, denies that 
Christ is true to his promises : " I am with 
you always, even unto the end of the world." 
"I will pray the Father, and he shall give 
you another Comforter, that he may abide 
with you forever." " The Comforter, which 
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send 
in my name : he shall teach you all things, 
and bring all things to your remembrance, 
whatsoever I have said unto you." (John, 
xiv., 16, 26.) ''Therefore, brethren, stand fast 
and hold the tradition ye have been taught, 
whether by word or our epistle.'' (2 Thess., 
v.. 13.) Again, we say, we must admit, such 
a revelation, from a divine being, is of infal- 
lible authority, or we are driven to deny the 
existence of any divine revelation whatever. 



30 



DIVLNE FAITH AND 



We repeat, there is no escape from the dilem- 
ma; the mightiest intellect, inspired by the 
acntest genius, cannot be released from the 
alternative. We are thus distinct and pointed 
here in stating this principle and its irrefra- 
gable strength, because upon it hinges, in our 
judgment, as a principle of human reason, 
and the sphere of its operations, the whole 
question of an infallible teaching authority 
in the Church of Jesus Christ. 

If this position be true, human reason must 
submit to a supernatural revelation, or else 
dispute the fact of this revelation. There 
is no middle ground for question or dispute. 
It is a divine revelation, and unconditional 
obedience to its facts and obligations a duty ; 
or it is not such a revelation, and, by con- 
sequence, its claims and behests may be dis- 
regarded with impunity. If the revelation 
be divine, it never interferes with the province 
of natural reason, because the revelation is 
in another sphere, teaching us concerning 
other relations and orders than those within 
the empire and dominion of reason, and hence 
it cannot conflict with reason's teachings and 
judgment in its own {natural) order. The 
sphere of reason is the natural order, reve- 
lation's empire is in the spiritual and super- 
natural order. It is impossible for a conflict 



NAT U HAL REASON. 



31 



to arise between them, unless reason arrogate 
to herself authority in an empire where she 
has no present existence, and to which she 
has no capacity to extend her being and 
government. 



SECTION II. 

The Example of the Bereans, or the Duty of 
Reason to Inquire into the Grounds of the 
Faith of the Infallible Church. 

It is the universal law of the world that no 
man, or set of men, can be condemned un- 
heard. It is a sentiment of justice, without 
exception, that before any one is censured for 
his opinions, these opinions be examined and 
understood. But this justice, somehow, is not 
meted out to the Catholic Church. Her claims 
upon reason are never even so much as in- 
quired into ; she is condemned without trial, 
without inquiry ; condemned, as we shall 
more fully see, for faith and practices she does 
not hold. Let us appeal to reason, if this be 
just. It is a sure dictate of reason that when 
Christ commanded his Church to teach all 
things whatsoever he had commanded them, 
they were sent to teach infallible truth ; that 
the teaching of error, under the circumstances, 



32 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



necessities, and promises connected with the 
commission, was simply an impossibility. It 
is equally a dictate of reason that, if the 
Catholic Church be not the identical Church 
commissioned by Christ, teaching the iden- 
tical faith the Apostles taught, that then the 
Church Christ established has been destroyed ; 
the gates of hell have prevailed against it, 
notwithstanding his infallible promise. We 
say this is a sure dictate of reason, because 
there is no other Church which pretends to 
date its origin back to the Apostles. All 
others, on the contrary, give it as a clear 
evidence of the usurpation and unreasonable- 
ness of the Church that she constantly affirms 
her unity with the Apostles, and always affirms 
her infallibility in matters of divine faith. 
Protestantism this very year (a. d. 1859) has 
celebrated the anniversary of the three hun- 
dredth year of her foundation : of course, she 
dates her origin 1500 years this side of the 
Apostles, and cannot claim unity with them ; 
and she does not. As it is then a fact that 
there is but one Church which can claim 
unity with the Apostles, and does claim it, 
and which does also claim infallibility, it 
behooves every man to investigate the foun- 
dation on which she is built. For if she do 
rest on no other foundation than the Apostles, 



NATURAL REASON. 



33 



if she be the pillar and ground of truth, 
and holds and dispenses the faith committed 
unto the saints, then she has the keys of 
everlasting life. I trust no one will fail to 
know, and never forget, that there was a faith 
delivered unto the saints, and that that faith 
was to be forever kept pure, and taught to 
the world. You will see in St. Jude, that 
he exhorted the Church to contend earnestly 
for this faith. St. Paul denounced as accursed 
whoever should teach any other. The com- 
mission to the -Apostles is conclusive of this 
"deposit of faith" with the Church, and of 
her right and obligation to teach it, purely, 
without any admixture of error, to all nations 
and generations of men. The Church which 
presents claims so founded, claims undoubt- 
edly as old as the Apostles, surely demands 
of reason an investigation of her claims and 
authority. Keason at this day can claim 
no exemptions that she was not justified in 
claiming in the face of the Apostles. Now 
the Church, in the days of the Apostles, 
challenged reason to investigate the faith they 
taught, and the grounds of it. In the seven- 
teenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles 
we have some remarkable facts upon this 
subject. Paul " reasoned" with the Jews, 
at Thessalonica, " out of the Scriptures." And 

3 



34 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



" lewd fellows of the baser sort," without 
any investigation, without any inquiry, set 
the city in an uproar, gathered a mob even, 
and assaulted the house of Jason, so that 
the Apostles fled by night to Berea. And 
it is said of the Bereans : " These were more 
noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they 
received the word with all readiness of mind, 
and searched the Scriptures daily, whether 
those things were so." Therefore (mark the 
reason) — "therefore many of them believed; 
also of honorable women which were Greeks, 
and of men not a few." Prejudice against 
the Church, without any investigation of 
the faith she teaches, and without any ex- 
amination of her life and doctrines, has 
always been characterized by the very same 
moral, mental, and physical phenomena which 
marked this unreasonable prejudice at Thes- 
salonica. Precisely the same. I appeal to 
any general persecution, to any local perse- 
cution, to the prejudice existing, without 
violence against the Church, in any city or 
town. All, all exist because the life and faith 
of the Church has not been investigated and 
understood. The Bereans are thought more 
noble than the Thessalonians, simply because 
they examined if those things were so which 
the Apostles taught. Let it be borne in mind, 



NATURAL REASON. 



35 



too, and pondered on, that these transactions 
took place a. d. 3tt, so that the faith and 
sacraments and observances of the Church 
were already preached, administered, and es- 
tablished. Now, what Scriptures did the 
Bereans examine daily, if the faith St. Paul 
taught, the sacraments he administered, and 
the observances he commanded, were so ? 
Manifestly not this portion of the Acts of 
the Apostles, for it is self-evident it was not 
written, nor did they examine any portion 
of the New Testament, for all of its epistles 
were unwritten ; nor had the Bereans a copy 
of any gospel or epistle. It was the Scrip- 
tures of the Old Testament they examined ; 
the very same which St. Paul had expounded 
to them a few days before. For what- pur- 
pose do I refer to these transactions at Thes- 
salonica and Berea ? As an example and 
monitor and teacher to all who deny the faith 
of the Church. No Christian historian can 
come into the presence of the monuments of 
Christian antiquity and then question that 
the Catholic Church is an institution which 
dates its origin and foundation with the 
Apostles. Its antiquity, as an institution, 
is undisputed. Its right to teach was not 
questioned by the Reformers, and it is not 
denied now because of any pretence or al- 



36 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



legation that she is an institution whose or- 
ganization, as claimed by herself, is spurious. 
It has never been pretended that her or- 
ganization took place in some century sub- 
sequent to the Apostles. But her authority 
to teach was and is denied by Protestants, 
because, as they allege, after some fifteen 
centuries had elapsed, through which she had 
kept the faith once delivered to the saints, 
in spite of the malign assaults of a hundred 
heresies, she then either corrupted the faith 
or parted with its sacred deposit. Now this 
is obviously a question of simple fact. It 
is not a matter for prejudice, for declamation, 
but for investigation. It is not a matter to 
be settled by assertion or denunciation, but 
by an honest scrutiny of the life of the Church 
for fifteen hundred years. It is not a ques- 
tion which mere education, preconception, or 
prejudice can rationally and honestly decide. 
History for fifteen centuries, beginning at the 
Apostles, the life of the Church for fifteen 
hundred years, beginning at the martyrdom 
of St. Peter, must be read and scrutinized 
to ascertain the truth. This history and this 
life must be interrogated as to the faith and 
practice of the Church during this long and 
eventful period. And when we ascertain 
what her faith and practice were — what her 



NATURAL REASON. 



37 



doctrines and institutions were during this 
time, we will have performed our duty, as 
the Bereans did, and not before. This task 
will be easy, upon one condition : if the Church 
has been one and universal (Catholic) in her 
faith and institutions, her history will be 
easily traced; but if she have changed and 
varied, the task may be more or less difficult. 
And if the changes have been frequent, in- 
tricate, and subtle, it may be a work of vast 
labor to track her steps and variations through 
the lapse of so many years. But still, the 
first change which may be discovered in faith 
and sacramental institutions, will effectually 
defeat her claim to infallibility and catholi- 
city at once. So there will be no need of 
tracing her through different ages and coun- 
tries, if indeed she have thus ever changed. 
For one change of a dogma of faith, or one 
change in her sacramental institutions, will 
be her complete condemnation. So that the 
Church puts those who accuse her upon 
an easy trial for her conviction. Almost any- 
body is equal to her successful prosecution, 
if indeed she be guilty. But it is objected 
to her, on all hands, that in faith and insti- 
tutions she never changes. The charge of 
anti-progressiveness is a complete refutation of 
the other charge. Each convicts the other 

4 



38 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



of error. Her corruption of the faith, and 
her intolerance to change, are contradictory 
charges, and the one annuls the truth and 
force of the other. The Church boasts that 
she never changes. Her opposers denounce 
her as inimical to human progress, because 
she never has, and proclaims she never will, 
change; and yet she is accused of parting 
,1th or corrupting the faith committed ori- 
ginally to her keeping. Now we appeal to 
the candor, logical power, and reason of fair- 
minded men, who have been misled by edu- 
cation, without any investigation of their own, 
to adopt both of these accusations, if it be 
not their duty, in honor and religion, to go 
to the standards of faith which the Church 
recognizes and teaches to her children, and, 
with the noble Bereans, see whether these 
things be so. For if the objection of the 
Church's enemies, and her boast that she 
never changes, be true, then the task of tracing 
her history, her life, through successive ages, 
is as easy as a steady historical gaze upon 
any great, prominent, universal, unwavering 
historical fact can be. As she claims she has 
never changed, and as her accusers denounce 
her intolerance of change, her obliviousness 
to the world's progressions, it may be assumed 
as a fact that she has never changed. If 



NATURAL REASON. 



39 



such change has taken place, it is a simple 
duty which those who assert it owe to the 
world and their own intelligence and candor, 
to state the place where, and the time when 
it occurred or was introduced. It is plainly 
more than absurd, it is at least thoughtless, 
for any moral being to assert that a change 
has taken place in any institution, unless he 
can specify its original constitution, and then 
specify the alteration of its original condition, 
as a matter of fact. Hence it is the obvious 
duty of all those who, either thinkingly or 
thoughtlessly, assert a change in the faith 
of the Church, to state exactly its original 
constitution, in faith and sacraments, as es- 
tablished by the Apostles, and then to state, 
with like exactness, the alteration which the 
Church has made in the apostolic constitu- 
tions. Before they can assert the change with 
justice to themselves and the Church, they 
must master her life, her history, so far as 
clearly to show the original constitutions, and 
the extent and the nature of their perversion. 
Such a mastery of her life will necessarily 
elicit the time when, the place where, and 
the person or persons by whom the changes, 
| perversions, and corruptions were initiated. 
The faithful Bereans would have done so. 
Thus we are brought to the simple fact which 



40 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



is to be decided by investigation : did the 
Church either corrupt the deposit of faith 
originally committed to her keeping, or part 
from it about the commencement of the six- 
teenth century? We are now in a position 
to solve this question of si?nple fact, by a 
simple comparison. "We can compare her 
dogmas of faith and sacramental institutions, 
then and now held, with the dogmas of faith 
and institutions which she for a century 
before, or for five centuries before, or for fif- 
teen centuries before, had held and observed. 
And if those then and now held agree with 
those before held, then the accusation against 
the Church is manifestly, self-evidently un- 
true. Nothing can be more simple than this 
investigation. No man can solve any his- 
torical question, to his entire satisfaction, so 
readily as he can this. He may arrive at 
it with infallible certainty, with the utmost 
ease and precision. All he has to do, is to 
examine what any one bishop, in communion 
with the Catholic Church, in all these fifteen 
centuries, has taught to his flock. If he choose 
he may examine them all. But, as it is 
universally conceded that the Church tolerates 
no disagreement in matters of faith, among 
her bishops in communion with her head, 
it is only necessary to examine the teaching 



NATURAL KEASON. 



41 



of any one bishop, not under censures or ex- 
communicated, to ascertain the faith of all. 
Thus the examination of one bishop's teaching 
will establish the faith of the entire Church 
in any one age. And then compare the teach- 
ings of this one bishop in this (any one) age 
with the teaching of any other bishop, in 
any other age, and so on through fifteen cen- 
turies; and if any disagreement be found in 
dogmas of faith or canonical institutions, then 
the case is made out against the Church ; 
she is neither infallible, nor catholic, nor 
in unity with the Apostles. But mark! the 
test, in all instances, must be made upon 
the teaching of a bishop in union with the 
supreme head of the Church, and not upon 
one either under censures or excommunicated 
for errors. Neither must it be made upon 
the teaching of an excommunicated priest, 
nor upon any declaration of his ; still less must 
it be made upon the statements of soured, 
disaffected, corrupt, or ambitious politicians; 
but, chiefest of all, we must not take the 
accusations of the historians of Henry VIII. 
and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth, and those 
successive writers who have propagated the 
traditions of their historians, and to these have, 
sometimes, added most unjust charges of their 
own. The Church should be judged by her 

4* 



42 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



own standards of faith. It is a simple justice 
which our common humanity, the ordinary 
courtesies of social life, and the charities of 
religion, all require that she should be thus 
judged. If those generous and high-toned 
men, who dissent from the Church, knew 
how provokingly insulting, how unamiably 
untrue, how violative of all the courtesies and 
amenities of life, their objections to the divine 
teaching of the Church are, because they con- 
tinue to reaffirm the interested and malicious 
charges of Henry's and Elizabeth's historians, 
and those who follow their traditions, — we 
know that ordinary self-respect, which dwells 
in the bosom of all candid and enlightened 
men, would coerce them to become acquainted 
with what the Church does believe and does 
teach her children. Young gentlemen, well 
read in these objectionable histories, would not 
violate the sacredness of hospitality, in the 
household of Catholics, by asking questions 
insinuating grievous untruths, if they would 
learn from our standards of faith what we do 
believe, because the Church teaches us to 
believe. Respectable and even learned clergy- 
men would not declaim from their pulpits 
against imaginary dogmas, and denounce the 
holy Church and her children, upon the faith 
they repose in these so-called histories, if they 



NATURAL REASON. 



43 



had read and studied the canons of faith, 
which is the life of the Church and the con- 
solation of her children. They would, as hon- 
orable men, without regard to the duties of 
religion, crave pardon of every child of the 
Church they meet, if, after one of their fiery 
denunciations against "the man of sin" and 
"the mysteries of popery," they could im- 
mediately receive into their minds a knowl- 
edge of the teachings of the faith which the 
Church dispenses to the faithful. 

Even when their admiration of some cham- 
pion of the faith is excited by his extraor- 
dinary virtues, and they desire to do such a 
character justice, in a moral point of view, 
they do themselves and the faith gross injustice 
in their eulogiums, because of their want of 
acquaintance with the faith we believe. Take 
a sentence or two of Sir James Mackintosh, 
a man in natural and moral accomplishments 
with but few peers, as an instance. Speaking 
of the trial of Sir Thomas More, who was 
put to death by Henry VIII., because he 
would not adjudge his divorce from his wife, 
and sanction Henry's illicit connection with 
Anne Boleyn, to be in accordance with the 
law of God, Sir James says : " On the sixth 
of the same month, almost immediately after 
the defeat of every attempt to practise on 



44 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



his firmness, More was brought to trial at 
Westminster ; and it will scarcely be donbted 
that no snch culprit stood at any European 
bar for a thousand years. It is rather from 
caution than necessity that the ages of Roman 
domination are excluded from the compari 
son. It does not seem that in any moral 
respect Socrates himself could claim a su 
periority." (British Essayists. Mackintosh's 
Life of Sir Thomas More.) 

Now the humblest child of the Church, 
acquainted with the character of Sir Thomas 
— who ever entered the sacred and merciful 
tribunal of penance with a contrite heart — 
if he did not know how well meant this 
compliment was, would resent Sir James' 
ignorance of the real splendors of the " cul- 
prit's" character as insulting in the extreme. 
Sir Thomas' "moral character" was not the 
character the accomplished gentleman and 
scholar admires. Far from it. It was the 
splendor of his faith, the spiritual man and 
character, which, without his knowledge, ex- 
cited his admiration and produced his eu- 
logium. It was the faith which sustained 
St. Stephen that sustained Sir Thomas. And 
any comparison between him and any Grecian 
or Roman, however illustrious in mere moral 
attributes, is a robbery alike of the Church 



NATURAL REASON. 



45 



and a desecration of the fame and faith of 
Sir Thomas, who was manifestly a martyr 
to his faith, and not to his mere moral ac- 
complishments. If Sir James Mackintosh had 
had a smattering knowledge even of Catholic 
faith, derived from the recognized standards 
of the Church, he would have felt most keenly 
that his fame as a thinker, scholar, and gentle- 
man, was badly damaged by the compliment, 
at least in the eyes of every intelligent Catholic. 
But he meant well, and he has our heart's 
warmest gratitude for the intention and for his 
honesty of purpose. But while we yield him 
our esteem because of his intention, we must 
assure him that he has done Sir Thomas a re- 
markable injustice — remarkable in its source, 
and nature, and object. More laid down his 
life in obedience to the faith the Church had 
taught him, that neither king nor man can 
annul the sacred tie of matrimony, lawfully 
made, without incurring the judgment of God 
against the crime and all who participate in 
its commission. It was the spiritual man, 
the man enlightened by divine faith, who 
was murdered on account of his faith, and 
not the moral man, on account of the sublimity 
of the morals which he had in common with 
Socrates. Doubtless a grand moral charac- 
ter will abandon life for the sake of duty ; 



46 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



but between the motives of Socrates and Sir 
Thomas there is a spiritual gulf which forbids 
all comparison and analogy. Sir James has 
not even the conception, still less the appre- 
ciation, of a spiritual man, and the holy faith 
which makes him what he is. That spiritual 
life, derived from the teachings of the Church, 
which has been the consolation and support 
of her millions of martyrs and saints, and 
which, more or less, is characteristic of the 
life of all her obedient children, Sir James 
failed to conceive and interpret, because he 
was ignorant of the faith which gives it birth 
and being. In this he, unintentionally, did 
himself, the Church, and Sir Thomas More 
a great injustice. To return, then, to the 
point directly in hand: in one word, then, 
the Church must be judged by her own stand- 
ards of faith, which she does teach and always 
has taught to her children, and by her own 
institutions which she maintains, in obedience 
to the original command, for their consolation, 
and not by the unjust declamations or well- 
meant eulogies of those who are utterly ig- 
norant of her life and character and teaching. 
This is the naked justice which is measured 
out to the meanest culprit in all systems of 
jurisprudence, and which ought not to be 
denied to the Church by any man of sense 



NATURAL REASON. 



and equity of character. And I do not doubt, 
when the case is thus presented, that any just 
man, no matter what prejudice he entertains 
against her, will agree at once that this is the 
mode in which the Church should be tried ; and 
he will procure some recognized standard of 
her doctrines and study it, before he again (if 
he ever has) denounces her teaching. Let such 
a man institute, in a very slight manner, with 
us, the comparison to which we have before 
referred, as testing the unity of the Church 
with the Apostles, and as testing the fact 
whether she teaches now the very faith they 
taught to the world. "Well, then, St. Ignatius 
was martyred, cast to lions in the amphitheatre 
at Rome, a. d. 107. He was ordained bishop 
of Antioch by St. Peter, and was intimately 
acquainted with SS. Peter and Paul; he 
was also intimate with the Apostle St. John. 
St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp (martyred a. d. 
166) were devoted companions and bishops, 
the first at Antioch, the other at Smyrna. 
St. Polycarp, the angel of the Church at 
Smyrna — so called in the Apocalypse — was 
personally acquainted with the Apostle St. 
John, who wrote the Apocalypse. Again, 
St. Irenseus, who was martyred, with nine- 
teen thousand children of the Church, in the 
vicinity of Lyons, a. d. 202, was an intimate 



48 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



friend of St. Polycarp ; Polycarp educated 
him. These will, therefore, undoubtedly, 
bring the faith of the Apostles, pure and 
direct, to the year a. d. 202. Now what did 
the bishops of Antioch, Smyrna, and Lyons 
teach? And what did all the fathers and 
saints in communion with them, up to a. d. 
202, teach? and what did the fathers and 
saints, in union with the Church through 
its supreme head, teach from a. d. 202 up to 
the sixteenth century ? "We first respond, that 
not one of them taught the faith of any pro- 
testing sect. It is presumed that this fact 
will not be questioned by any candid man 
well read in the life of the Church prior to 
the year 1500 ; and if not, may we not beseech 
all to consider the import of so plain but 
so startling a fact ? Let us repeat the state- 
ment : Not one of them, the saints and 
fathers, taught the faith of any one sect now 
protesting against the right of the Church 
to teach. And upon an examination of their 
acts, it will be found that they universally 
(catholically) taught the faith and observed 
the institutions the Church now teaches and 
observes. Let us repeat the commendation 
of the Bereans in the 17th chapter of Acts: 
" These were more noble than those in Thes- 
salonica, in that they received the Word with 



NATURAL REASON. 



49 



all readiness of mind, and searched the Scrip- 
tures daily, whether these things were so. 
Therefore many of them believed ; also of 
honorable women, which were Greeks, and 
of men not a few." Their belief was the 
result of examination, not of prejudice and 
declamation. Is the word of faith which 
Paul and Silas taught and the sacraments 
which they then administered, and which had 
then been taught and ministered twenty-one 
years, from the death of Christ, less worthy 
of the respectful and candid examination of 
men now than they were then? If this 
question be answered in a manly spirit of 
candor, which is the response we earnestly 
entreat for it, it must be answered in the 
negative. What then ? Simply that it is the 
highest duty of every man to examine daily 
the standards of faith recognized by the 
Church, with " willing minds," and to judge 
from the evidence these standards will afford, 
whether the things she teaches and has ever 
taught, since the Bereans were converted, be 
so. It is the very faith, the system of faith, 
taught to the Bereans, which challenges our. 
scrutiny. And this scrutiny, when made 
under their commendable example, will coerce 
our faith. The investigation is easy, and, 
at every step, is made in the light of the 
4 5 



50 



DIVINE FAITH AND. 



purest reason. No act of aggression is made 
upon any province of hers, in any part of the 
inquiry. No abasement of this noble faculty 
is demanded in all the range of the investi- 
gation; but, by a scrutiny of the facts, in 
the full dominion of reason, we arrive at the 
feet of the Apostles, and receive from them 
the exact revelation which Christ commanded 
them to teach to all nations to the end of the 
world; yet, arrived there, reason must stand 
mute and accept the faith they teach. Rea- 
son there must not question with the Apostles, 
and demand that her rationality shall not 
accept their revelation, because she cannot 
account, on philosophical principles, for the 
nature of the facts revealed. She must not 
say to the Apostles that their revelation is 
not consonant to her powers. Her powers 
are inadequate to scrutinize the reasons of 
God, connected with a divine revelation. She 
must inquire, it is true, whether the facts 
(" these things'') be so ; but there she must 
stop, and not inquire into the reasons existing 
in the divine mind, for revealing the facts, 
and for revealing them in the form, substance, 
and under the circumstances which they are 
revealed. This is madness, not reason. Her 
highest duty to herself, the most reasonable 
duty she can perform, is to obey God, because 



NATURAL REASON. 



51 



it is a fact lie commands her to obey. The 
fact, and not the reason for it, is the rule 
of obedience. If reason's capacities were to 
measure the philosophy of God's mercies, in 
revelation, then, indeed, is human reason su- 
perior to the mercy of God. There is one 
philosophy in all divine revelation to human 
reason which it may fathom, and only one; 
and that is, that all revelation from God is 
in mercy to man. Any further than this, 
reason has no jurisdiction in a matter of divine 
revelation. Her most potential teaching, how- 
ever, is, that it is folly to reject the mercy on 
the conditions revealed, because she cannot 
fathom the mysteries of the revelation. She 
must accept the revelation and obey its com- 
mands, or she must dethrone the Revealer, as 
having no power to make a revelation which 
exceeds her comprehension. 

This is undoubtedly the natural, rightful, 
and inevitable position of reason, at the feet 
of the Apostles. And when we trace the 
teaching of the Church, from their altars and 
feet, up through passing ages to the 16th 
century, and then find her bishops in com- 
munion with her head teaching the same 
revealed faith committed to the Apostles, 
the position of reason will be the same at 
the feet of the bishops and the altars of the 



52 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



Church in the 16th century, that it was before 
the same altars when the Apostles taught 
the same revelation at the institution of Chris- 
tianity. Reason teaches this with absolute 
authority. She demands for the bishops of 
the Church, when teaching divine revelation 
in the 16th century, the same implicit faith 
that she demanded for the Apostles when 
teaching the same faith in the first century. 
The bishops of the 16th century, teaching 
the same faith (revelation) which the Apostles 
taught in the beginning, are entitled to the 
same respect, from reason, to which the Apos- 
tles were entitled. And reason imperatively 
demands the same credence and the same obe- 
dience for the one as the other. The position 
of reason, in relation to infallible authority, 
is the same in all ages of the Church. And 
she can no more divest herself of these rela- 
tions to the infallible teaching power in the 
19th century, than she could in the first. Her 
rights are exactly the same in both ages. If 
reason can teach any thing infallibly, it is 
the truth that her rights are exactly the same 
in both ages; and that her authority is no 
more potent in the last age than in the first. 



NATURAL REASON. 



53 



SECTION" III. 

Those who eejeot the Teaching, of the Infallible 
Church, without carefully examining its Stan- 
dards of Faith, as the Bereans did the Teach- 
ing of St. Paul, do not use Reason, but submit 
to the Temper of the Thessalonians. Clamor 
and Persecution the sure Indicia of Prejudice 
and Non-investigation, but never the Criterion 
of Reason. 

In the seventeenth chapter of the Acts of 
the Apostles there are three prominent trans- 
actions in the life of the Church, occurring 
twenty-one years after the ascension of our 
Saviour, and three times seven years after 
she had established the faith her divine Master 
had commanded her to teach, and had ad- 
ministered the sacraments he taught her to 
administer to her children. I say after the 
faith was established, because we are so told 
in the 4th and 5th verses of the 16th chapter 
of these Acts, and in these words : " And as 
they went through the cities they delivered 
them the decrees for to keep, that were or- 
dained of the Apostles and elders which were 
at Jerusalem And so were the Churches 
established in the faith, and increased in num- 

5* 



54: 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ber daily." Now these three prominent 
transactions, so related in the 17th chapter, 
we desire to group before the reader as mat- 
ters of pointed significance in the matter in 
hand. And first, when St. Paul at Thessalo- 
nica for " three Sabbath-days reasoned with 
the Thessalonians out of the Scriptures, open- 
ing and alleging that Christ must needs have 
suffered and risen again from • the dead" (a 
miraculous statement) ; "and this Jesus, whom 
I preach unto you, is Christ" (the man cruci- 
fied at Jerusalem twenty-one years before), 
" some believed. But the Jews which be- 
lieved not, moved with envy, took unto them 
certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and 
gathered a company, and set all the city in 
an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason," 
and they dragged him out of his house because 
he had entertained Paul and Silas. And to 
infuriate the rulers and mob, they alleged 
that the Church designed to overthrow the 
civil government of Caesar. The Apostles 
were thus compelled to flee away in the night, 
and went to Berea. Here the second trans- 
action occurred which we desire to be noted. 
And it is said that "these were more noble 
than those at Thessalonica, in that they re- 
ceived the word with all readiness of mind, 
and searched the Scriptures daily whether 



NATURAL REASON. 



55 



these things were so." But when the Jews 
at Thessalonica heard of it, they came to Berea 
and here " stirred up the people," and Paul 
had to fly to Athens. And at this place 
the third transaction occurred which we wish 
to be marked. In this city, when Paul saw 
it was wholly given to idolatry, his spirit 
was stirred in him, and he disputed in the 
synagogues and in the market with those that 
met him ; and then he encountered Epicurean 
and Stoic philosophers. " And some said, 
what will this babbler say? other some, he 
seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods ; 
because he preached unto them Jesus and 
the resurrection." But being desirous to hear 
more of this new doctrine, they took him to 
the Areopagus. And he stood in the midst 
of Mars' Hill, and said : " Ye men of Athens, 
I perceive that in all things you are too 
superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld 
your devotions, I found an altar with this 
inscription, To the Unknown God. "Whom, 
therefore, ye ignorantly worship, him declare 
I unto you." These transactions involve mat- 
ter for a volume of considerations. But I 
leave them to the contemplation of the reader 
with but two remarks ; arid, first, it is clearly 
seen in them that it is only the candid, sin- 
cere inquirer, who honestly investigates truth, 



56 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



who believes it ; and that the bigot who 
wraps himself within the impenetrable folds 
of his prejudice, and arrays popular clamor 
to keep his conscience at peace with his ob- 
stinacy, and the frivolous and unthinking 
caterer to his own idle curiosity and passing 
amusement, are alike left under the severe 
condemnation against the unbeliever, con- 
tained in the command to the Church to teach 
all nations, to the end of the world. The 
second remark that these transactions suggest, 
is that they verify, in a remarkable manner, 
the uuelaborated propositions at the head of 
this section. With these remarks we proceed 
to the direct discussion of these propositions. 
And, without doubt, there is no inquiry of 
so much importance to man as the investi- 
gation of those divine revelations, made to 
the Church by its divine Master, through 
her teaching, of which he is instructed in 
the relations he holds to the supernatural 
world, its supreme ruler and inhabitants. The 
faith and institutions of the Catholic Church 
claim to be the embodiment of the very reve- 
lation which Jesus Christ made to his Apostles, 
and which he commanded it to teach all na- 
tions, unto the end of the world. This claim 
has always been made, and has always been 
acted upon by her. For whatever other accu- 



NATURAL REASON. 



57 



sation may be brought against her, there is no 
one who will accuse her of ever, for one mo- 
ment, intermitting this claim or of ceasing to 
demand its recognition by the entire race of 
man. She has from the first been a city set 
upon a hill. If this claim was originally 
well founded on the revelation of Christ and 
the commission to teach all nations, to the 
end of time, it must be equally well founded 
now ; unless evidence as clear as the original 
command can be shown, to prove that her foun- 
dation on the apostolic commission has been 
dug up, and the superstructure reared upon 
it has been overthrown. Where is the evi- 
dence? What does an allegation of its ex- 
istence import? Simply that the word and 
promise of the blessed God has failed ! Blas- 
phemy! But if it were allowable thus to 
impeach the veracity of the Almighty God, 
where are any facts in the march of the 
Church through successive ages to show that 
she has abandoned one article of all the faith 
which the blessed Lord revealed to her and 
commanded her to teach to the nations ? In 
what period of her history has she ceased 
to administer any sacrament or offer the sac- 
rifice her divine Founder instituted ? When, 
if ever, did she institute a sacrament or teach 
a faith not revealed to the Apostles, and 



58 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



brought to her remembrance by the Holy- 
Ghost, guiding her into all truth? These 
are questions of vital import, eternally vital, 
and they cannot be reasonably answered but 
by a statement of specific facts, attested by 
credible testimony. Facts, and not decla- 
mation, must state the time when, the occasion 
on which, and the heresiarchs who robbed 
the Church of her birthright, which is the 
revelation of Jesus Christ. Reason demands 
this sort of exposition, and will be satisfied 
with no other. But no one can be prepared 
to answer the questions until he have scru- 
tinized the faith and institutions of the Church 
as she now exists, and then have scrutinized 
her origin and her progress through centuries. 
And it is very safe to say that not one in a 
million of those who reject her claims upon 
their faith and obedience, has ever done this. 
And it is equally fair to presume, at least, 
that no writer whatever, who has assailed 
the teaching of the Church, has ever honestly 
and candidly and patiently studied her canons 
of faith, and the evidence of their veracity, 
with a sincere desire to arrive at the real 
truth, as verily taught by her to her children. 
No writer can be produced who has declaimed 
against the teaching of the Church, but that 
any well-instructed son of hers will tell you 



NATURAL REASON. 



59 



at once, often indignantly, that the author has 
failed, most lamentably, with cruel injustice, 
to state the truth concerning her dogmas. Is 
not this a fact as startling as singularly amaz- 
ing ? How is it to be accounted for ? Cer- 
tainly not by any suggestion that Catholics 
utter falsehoods as to their faith, by denying 
it to be what it isf The Church, in her 
life, has seen too many tens of thousands of 
her children, in all times and nations, mar- 
tyred, for this uncharitable proposition to gain 
any credence with men of scrupulous honor 
or a high sense of justice, accompanied with 
any creditable degree of cultivation. It is 
too foul a charge — it is too uncourteous to 
human character, as developed under all the 
forms of the Christian religion, at least, to 
allow it for a moment to account for the fact 
in question. For it is equivalent to the 
assertion that no well instructed or devout 
Catholic is a gentleman; that not one such 
but will utter a mean and cowardly falsehood 
as to the real faith which his Church teaches 
him and which she observes. But few of 
those who reject the faith will thus outrage 
at once their own self-respect, the religious 
character, and individual and personal honor 
of all the instructed and devout ' Catholics 
in the world. A solution is, then, still want- 



60 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ing, for the amazing and startling fact that 
no writer can be produced, who has. declaimed 
against the Church and her dogmas of faith, 
whose work, in numberless, material, and most 
important statements, will not, without any 
hesitancy, be said to be wanting in truth by 
any instructed or devout Catholic. We have 
just seen we cannot account for it by charging 
that such Catholics are universally, without 
any exception, destitute of religious obliga- 
tions and wanting in individual and personal 
honor. How are we, then, to explain this 
mystery % By maintaining, on the other hand, 
that these opposers of the Church are uni- 
versally guilty of wilful falsehood? By no 
means. That is not the key to this remark- 
able mystery, either. The truth which un- 
locks it is this: These writers consist of two 
classes. The first class is made up of those 
who never in their lives saw any work which 
is recognized by the Church as a standard of 
her doctrines, but who have taken for gospel 
the traditionary statements of her maligners 
as to what she teaches. These are principally 
conversant with bad histories and illiterate 
controvert! sts. The other class consists of 
professional controvertists, who do not study 
the standards of the Church to acquire a 
knowledge of her spirit and intention, and 



NATURAL SEASON. 



61 



to know the truth as she teaches it. But 
they "pick up" a standard work with the 
preconception of a feed lawyer who unshelves 
his library to find "a case" to support the 
side he has been employed to support. They 
glance at the statements in such a standard 
with the eager hope that they may catch some 
phrase which they may, by distortion, at least, 
wrest from its context, to suit and back the 
deep prejudice and bitter opposition they en- 
tertain against Catholics and Catholic insti- 
tutions. They see nothing as it is, but every 
thing through their preconceptions against the 
Church ; which preconception, in their partisan 
zeal, they as religiously believe is an infal- 
lible fact, as the devout Catholic religiously 
believes the dogmas of faith the Church 
teaches to him are divine revelation. Our 
controvertist does not seek for truth: that is 
not what he is in search of in a catholic stan- 
dard, for he believes, before he opens it, there 
is none there. He is hunting for evidence 
to prove that his antipathies are just; for 
facts to show his fellows that what they all 
believe concerning the faith of the Church 
is exactly what she teaches. (We know the 
spirit of this class well, for we have been 
slightly initiated into their confederacy our- 
selves.) Such men examine in a temper and 

6 



62 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



for a purpose that forbids knowledge, and 
incapacitates for the acquisition and statement 
of truth concerning the faith they seek to 
ruin, but not to understand. There is one 
marked vice which universally attaches itself 
to this class : they state their conclusions for 
facts. The conclusion in their mind is that 
the Church is in error. They no more doubt 
this before they enter on their investigation 
than the illiterate and badly read class do. 
Hence their objections to the Church would 
be good if their previous conclusions were 
facts instead of. inferences from nothing. But, 
nevertheless, they do not state wilful false- 
hoods. They mistake prejudice for dispas- 
sionateness ; conclusion for fact ; confound the 
teachings of the partisan with the investigation 
of the philosopher ; the one-sided view of the 
feed counsel for the deliberately weighed 
judgment of the court. This, we think, is 
an accurate and reliable account of the seem- 
ingly inexplicable mystery we have been dis- 
cussing. 

But there is another mystery : Why is it 
that the " mass " of men rely on the one-sided 
statements of these very unsafe guides ? Why 
is it that, in an age of universal literary 
activity, what is, confessedly, the oldest in- 
stitution on the earth — an institution that has 



NATURAL REASON. 



63 



lived through all the ages of Christendom, 
has spoken all languages, and has taught and 
educated men of renown, as well as the com- 
monalty in all ages, in every country under 
heaven, — why has there not been more in- 
quiry among the "masses" as to what she 
does teach, and as to the life she has lived ? 
All this is the more astonishing — unutterably 
astonishing — because the record of the Church's 
life is more universally accessible than that 
of any tribe, nation, or institution which now 
exists or which has ever existed. And if 
she have surrendered or perverted the faith 
once delivered to the saints, it is very easy 
to point to the chapter in her history, and 
to the countrv and a^e in which she ceased 
to fulfil the commission of her divine M^ter. 
~No fact in the history of the world can be 
so universally accessible as this, if it really 
exist. And hence we, with calm confidence, 
challenge the learning and genius of the world 
of her opposers to enter upon the inquiry 
and prosecute it through all ages, by the 
standards of the Church's faith in the same 
ages. When, then, did she cease to fulfil 
the commission ? At what time, in what 
government, did she begin to be " a setter 
forth of strange gods" and a new faith ? Or 
to be a setter forth of a strange faith con- 



64 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



cerning The Unknown God? The Church, 
as an institution, is covered with the glories 
of more than eighteen centuries. In all the 
transactions of men who have any history, 
she has signalized her zeal and spiritual au- 
thority and power during all this period of 
time. Never, for one moment, has she re- 
laxed either. Were there any other institu- 
tion of her antiquity claiming to have a fixed 
faith and unvarying standards attested by 
universal modes of action, unquestionably it 
would be examined critically by most intel- 
ligent persons ignorant of its life and char- 
acter. Literary men, critics, philosophers, 
statesmen — everybody would be investigating 
its constitution and character. Its nature 
wou^i be scrutinized with the utmost care 
and devout attention; especially would it be 
so if this (supposed) other institution claimed 
to build its organization and faith upon a 
commission from a divine Founder, command- 
ing a select order of men to teach it to all 
the world, and who uttered the severest — eter- 
nal condemnation upon those who disbelieved 
their teaching. And if, indeed, in assumed 
obedience to the command and commission, 
she had taught the faith in every character 
of government, and among every description 
of people, enjoining all, from the prince on 



NATURAL REASON. 



65 



the throne, or from the turbulent chief of his 
tribe or caste, to the beggar at the gateway 
of wealth, to submit their hearts and lives 
to its teachings and the practice of its pre- 
cepts, demanding of them all to go into a 
secret tribunal, which she describes a& one 
of love and mercy, and there confess their 
very thoughts when violative of her standards 
of purity and holiness, in order to a full com- 
munication of her graces, — then its challenge 
to the attention and scrutiny of the world 
would be, morally, so decisive as to compel 
a thorough investigation of its claims. And 
the fact that the claims of this (supposed) 
other institution, thus imposing, thus univer- 
sal in its character, passed unheeded without 
scrutiny by any one, would be an argument 
against his reason and his intelligence. And, 
looking at the Catholic Church as the only 
institution of an antiquity dating back to the 
Apostles, universal in her offices, everywhere 
demanding implicit faith in her teachings, 
subsisting in all societies, speaking the lan- 
guage now, as at the Day of Pentecost, of all 
people, it is strange, beyond measure strange, 
that the world who is not of her children 
will not examine into the origin and progress 
of this catholic (universal) institution. The 
neglect of those who reject her claims to teach 



66 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



all nations, to search her recognized standards 
to see whether their protest against her au- 
thority " be so" — be well founded on the faith 
she teaches ; this neglect to understand before 
protesting and opposing and rejecting, operates 
as a " strong delusion" to overwhelm minds, 
in other respects clear, enlightened, and candid, 
in the grossest injustice against the senti- 
ments, life, and faith of all the children of 
the Catholic Church. The sentiments, prin- 
ciples, and faith which, under this " delusion," 
are attributed to these children, are frequently- 
gross, indecent, and repulsive in the extreme 
to them ; and, if really entertained by them 
as articles of faith, as active feelings of their 
hearts, would surely produce in their lives, con- 
duct and action intolerably revolting. And 
yet what is the open, patent, observed fact, 
in every community where the Catholics have 
a church, an altar, and daily sacrifice upon 
that altar ? Surely no candid man will allege 
against them the grossness and immorality 
of life which would necessarily flow from 
the faith which is imputed to them as the 
fundamental principle of their moral and 
religious life. The incongruity between the 
moral and religious life of the devout Catholic 
and the faith imputed to him, is itself a 
miracle if the charges of the enemies of the 



NATURAL REASON. 



67 



Church against her be true. It is a mystery, 
a profound, philosophical mystery, which chal- 
lenges the learning and genius of those who 
live under this " strong delusion " of error, in 
regard to her, to account for on some rational 
and approved principle in the science of the 
human mind and life. If the commission on 
which the Church is founded, and on the 
authority of which she teaches, did not spe- 
cify in itself any articles of faith to be taught, 
but commanded her to " teach and observe 
all things whatsoever " her divine Master had 
before commanded her, and if it did not spe- 
cify the institutions to be organized, nor the 
sacraments to be administered, any further 
than the same command to " teach and observe 
all things whatsoever " he had before revealed 
unto her, then reason, with all her imperial 
prerogatives, demands that we should go to 
the fathers of the Church to know of them 
what faith the Apostles did teach, and to learn 
what institutions they did organize. Reason 
attests the true mode of investigating a simple 
matter of fact like this, be to the ascertaining 
what the persons originally commissioned did 
in obedience to and in pursuance of their 
authority. This is of the essence of that 
reason and common sense so much esteemed 
by all who reject the teaching of the Church. 



68 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



Yet who of them all has ever been thus 
obedient to reason, respectful to himself, 
and just to the infallible Church? We here 
again challenge the production of a single 
doctor or historian, opposed to her, who has 
thus investigated her claims. There is no 
author who has written against her, but who 
has made such absurd statements concerning 
the faith, as makes it self-evident to the Catho- 
lic mind that no such examination has been 
had. Her standards of doctrine they have 
wholly misconceived ; and the unjust and some- 
times even ludicrous representations, founded 
on the misconception, leaves one in doubt 
whether to weep or laugh. Instead of an 
inductive or analytic method of investigation, 
these philosophers make none at all. They 
seize upon a dogma of faith, and regarding 
it as it is commonly spoken of by those who 
are accustomed to stigmatize it — that is, with- 
out any of its concomitants, without any of 
its conditions and limitations, without any 
of the elements which, in the mind and pious 
belief of the Church, enter into its definition 
— they, as it were, " nick-name" it, and then, 
upon this abstract name, they fasten concrete 
ideas, as strange to the Church as they are 
unjust to those ornaments, alike of human 
nature and grace, which have adorned her 



NATURAL REASON". 



69 



history in all countries, and through all the 
vicissitudes of time. It is thus they mistake 
matters simply of practice for articles of faith, 
and thus often, to the astonishment of the 
Catholic, confounding one with the other, 
declaim against both as against human rea- 
son and common sense. We have already 
seen that this mode of thought and criterion 
of faith is of no more validity now than 
it was when it was urged (or might have 
been) at the altar of the Apostles, if the 
Church teaches the faith revealed to them 
by Jesus Christ. We will see its utter in- 
compatibility with reason by and by. Those 
who thus carelessly, for partisan purposes, 
investigate the claims of the Church, forget 
that she was established by Christ as an in- 
fallible teacher, to instruct all nations, to the 
end of time. And they forget that the teach- 
ing of the Apostles and their immediate suc- 
cessors, at least, could not be set aside or 
gainsayed because those whom they taught 
did not grasp the force of the supernatural 
communications by the power of their natural 
reason. Reason cannot annihilate a fact nor 
escape its obligations, by her incompetency 
to measure its rationality. The apostolic 
teaching was with infallible authority. Their 
immediate successors so taught; and, on the 



70 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



theory of our opponents, it is an interesting 
inquiry of eternal import to find out at what 
stage of the succession this infallible authority- 
ceased. There could not be error in any 
dogma of faith the Apostles taught, nor in 
any sacrament they administered, nor any 
ordinance they established, nor in any decree 
they made for the perpetuation of the faith. 
The faith they taught was revealed from God ; 
and human reason had no natural right and 
no acquired authority to impose upon faith 
a denial of the revealed doctrines, because they 
did not coincide with her pride, her precon- 
ceptions, and her strength. The revelation 
was infallible ; reason is always fallible. And 
the Church always has taught, and she now 
teaches, the same points of faith which the 
Apostles taught, and she of course teaches it 
with the infallibility with which they taught 
it, and reason has no more power to discredit 
the faith now than she had to discredit the 
personal apostolic teaching of its truths. 
Reason herself proclaims this with her purest 
authority and highest prerogatives. And 
hence reason further teaches "to all dissenters 
from the Church, that to investigate her right 
to teach infallibly is not to measure the nature 
of her faith and her authority to teach it, by 
their reason. It is a matter of fact that they 



NATURAL REASON. 



71 



have no standard of reason among themselves 
by which to measure either reason or faith, 
but each of the five hundred and odd varieties 
into which those who protest against her 
authority are divided, has a different stand- 
ard of reason by which to measure divine 
faith. Now reason, again, teaches that the 
Apostles did not establish five hundred vari- 
ations of either faith or reason, and as many 
more as may hereafter protest, on new grounds, 
against the divine revelation the Church 
teaches. 

Hence it is easy to perceive — reason knows 
it — that there is some essential vice in the 
mode by which the antagonists of the Church 
investigate her claims. Whether it be trace- 
able into a distinct idea or a valid definition 
or not, it is surely true that there is an es- 
sential viciousness in the mode and principle 
on which they proceed. The reasonable mode 
and the principle of reason, is to proceed ei- 
ther by induction or by analysis : analysis, by 
taking the faith now taught by the Church, 
and, tracing it up step by step, through every 
age, until we arrive at the teaching instituted 
by the Apostles, under the divine commission 
of Jesus Christ ; induction, by beginning at 
the teaching instituted and practised as soon 
as the commission was given, and then tracing 



72 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



it down, step by step, through each successive 
century, until we arrive at Pope Pius IX. 
And if, in either mode of investigation, we 
find her teaching, her sacraments and insti- 
tutions, always the same, we are as fully as- 
sured, by reason, that the Church is an in- 
fallible teacher, as we are that the Apostles 
were the infallible expounders of the authori- 
ty contained in the commission. This is a 
proposition addressed to both reason and com- 
mon sense. It is as infallibly true as they 
can pronounce any fact to be. And the 
highest achievements of human reason, and 
the sublimest reach of common sense, will 
approve it in all its extent. The province 
of reason, therefore, is not invaded while it 
is required by the Church to stand mute in 
the presence of a revelation of God, taught 
to her children by the Church, and while 
reason is commanded not to interrupt the 
province of faith in believing alone, because 
God, through his divinely appointed Church, 
teaches as she was commanded. Reason ad- 
mits this, and demands, within her sphere, 
for faith all the reverence in her credence 
that the Church does within her sphere of 
teaching power and authority. 



NATURAL REASON. 



73 



SECTION" IV. 

The antecedent peobability that if a Divine Rev- 
elation WERE MADE TO BE TAUGHT THROUGH ALL 
TIME, THAT AN OeDER OF TEACHERS WOULD BE CON- 
secrated to teach it with infallible certainty, 
or that a dlvine revelation, commanded to be 
taught, would be taught in accordance with 
the Will of the Revealer, and therefore truly, 

„ AND not eeeoneously. 

It is in the highest degree probable that 
if God, in his providential dealings with mor- 
tal man, found it necessary (humanly speak- 
ing) to reveal a religion to him, the observance 
and practice of which would be necessary 
to instruct him as to the relations he sus- 
tained and the obligations he owed to the 
supernatural world, and as conditions to his 
immortal happiness, that he would constitute 
an order of teachers — a priesthood — to per- 
petuate the truths revealed. This is a proba- 
bility which we think reason will fully ap- 
prove and firmly support. For otherwise 
the revelation would be lost, and man again 
become ignorant of his relations and obli- 
gations to the supernatural world and its holy 
Ruler; and successive revelations would be 

7 



74 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



necessary to restore man to the true position 
in which it was the will of God to place him 
by the revelation of himself to his fallen 
creature. And these successive revelations 
would have to be made to every successive 
generation, and to each member of the human 
family in every generation. This follows from 
the nature of man and a divine revelation; 
for if no order of men were constituted to 
teach it, that is, to perpetuate it, it is manifest 
it would lose its authority with the death 
of the original recipients. After the death 
of him or them to whom it was communicated, 
no person or order of persons would have 
authority to teach that such revelation ever 
was made. Hence the Saviour said, " All 
power is given to me in heaven and in earth ; 
go ye, therefore : and as the Father hath sent 
me, even so I send you: He that heareth 
you, heareth me; and he that heareth me, 
heareth the Father that sent me." The con- 
stitution, then, of an order of priesthood to 
perpetuate the revelation of Jesus Christ, and 
attest it to all ages, was a divine appointment 
in exact accordance — so far as reason can 
perceive — with the natural constitution of the 
human mind. By what authority is it, then, 
assumed that the means ordained for the 
perpetuity of the revelation are contrary to 



NATURAL REASON. 



75 



reason ? Reason teaches exactly to the con- 
trary, with her utmost precision and her 
clearest power. The teaching power origin- 
ally organized to perpetuate the revelation, 
is the only legitimate authority to teach it 
to all ages and to all nations. This teaching 
order, this sacerdotal power, is assuredly the 
only agency that could perpetuate the reve- 
lation, deposited with it, without error. For, 
waiving the question of the possibility (mark 
the word) of any other order wresting this 
deposit of faith from the divinely appointed 
one, — waiving this, still no other order has 
security from error in teaching the faith, even 
if they could acquire its deposit. The divine- 
ly appointed order of priesthood is infallibly 
secured from error in perpetuating the faith, 
so far as the word and promise of God can 
secure it ; and the Catholic can conceive of 
nothing safer than such security. The word 
of promise to it is, that its divine Founder 
was with it always, to the end of the world ; 
that his Spirit would abide with it to com- 
fort it, to bring all things which he had 
revealed to it to its remembrance, and to guide 
it into all truth; and that the gates of hell 
should not prevail against it. These promises 
clearly establish the will and the design — 
the divine purpose — that the truths revealed 



76 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



should be perpetuated to all ages. There 
can be no doubt of this. And they, with 
equal clearness, establish the will and the 
design — the divine purpose— to be, that the 
sacerdotal order then organized to perpetuate 
it, was to teach it to all ages ; for the command 
is to no other, neither are the promises to 
any other. And if it was the design that 
this revelation should be transmitted to all 
nations and ages, it certainly was the further 
design of our Saviour that it should be trans- 
mitted in its original purity and with all the 
force of its original obligations ; in other words, 
the last priest who shall teach the doctrines 
of the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, 
in the order of perpetuity, just before the 
consummation of the world, will teach to men 
with all the authority and certainty that St. 
Peter taught on the day of Pentecost, or that 
the council of Jerusalem taught the faith 
to the original churches. Peason teaches, 
that if this be not so, the divine idea and 
intention of perpetuity is destroyed. And 
the moment that the perpetuity of the idea 
and the fact of the revelation are once de- 
stroyed, the revelation is lost forever. Neither 
can it be recovered without a new revelation. 
This results from the nature of things, as rea- 
son deliberately teaches. But whether Jesus 



NATURAL REASON. 77 

Christ adopted means to perpetuate the idea 
and facts of his revelation, in accordance with 
the nature of men or not, the fact is so, that 
he did constitute a sacerdotal order to preserve 
and perpetuate it. That the functions of this 
order, in the execution of their sacred office, 
were in agreement with the teachable character 
of human nature, reason will not doubt; for 
he would not institute, for the enlightenment 
of man and his adaptation for eternal com- 
munion with himself, a mode of teaching 
which was at war with the nature to be 
taught. This is self-evident from reason ; and 
it is, hence, alike self-evident that there is 
no abasement of reason when it sustains faith 
in the reception and practice of the truths 
divinely revealed. 

But it is a fact, at all events, that Jesus Christ 
constituted a sacerdotal order to teach (per- 
petuate) his revealed religion. And whether 
the functions of this order — in the execution 
of its sacred office — were in exact accordance 
with the teachable character of human nature 
or not ; still it is manifest that they were 
constituted to teach truth, and not error ; 
that is, to teach — perpetuate infallible truth 
as revealed, and not any modification of it, 
whether it were an essential or an indifferent 
modification. Nothing can be more surely 

7* 



78 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



affirmed by reason, than that, when God 
established a Chnrch to teach all nations, he 
constitnted it to teach assuredly, without any 
mixture of falsehood, the very revelation he 
deposited with it and commanded it to per- 
petuate, or teach to all nations to the consum- 
mation of the world. It is amazing to suppose 
that he could constitute a church to teach 
falsehood, or be instrumental in the perpetu- 
ation of that vice, by varying in any manner 
the revealed facts. It is equally amazing 
that any reasonable being should believe that 
God constituted any church to teach any in- 
different and non-essential truth, as revealed by 
him to man for his instruction, to attain eternal 
life. If reason and common sense can give 
us higher assurance of one fact than another, 
it is of the truth asserted in these last propo- 
sitions. This is the faith of the Church, and 
those who deny her faith on this subject she 
cannot allow to be the true representatives of 
either reason or common sense. And while 
she maintains the infallible truth with in- 
tolerant rigor, she maintains with equal in- 
tolerance that she is upholding the true rela- 
tions which her divine Founder established 
between faith in a supernatural revelation and 
reason and common sense in the natural or- 
der. She asks no submission of these, but 



NATURAL REASON. 



79 



she demands of them, as their most rational 
act, that when God reveals a fact, they do 
not invade the province of faith and coerce 
her to discredit the revelation, because they 
do not grasp its rationale according to their 
preconceptions of what would be a rational 
act in the Supreme God. For the fact must 
be true, whether these faculties of the human 
mind comprehend its mysteries or not. The 
antecedent probabilities, therefore, are, that 
when God, in the fulness of time, would reveal 
a religion or system of faith, and would in- 
stitute sacraments fitted to instruct and redeem 
the soul of man from its fallen condition and 
restore it to its true relations to its Creator, 
and so prepare it for a happy immortality, 
that he revealed for this purpose only essential 
and infallible truths. The means to the end 
designed, which was to restore man to his 
true spiritual relations to the supernatural 
world and its Supreme Father, must rest 
alone in the judgment of God, and not in 
the preconceptions of the reason which man 
uses in his fallen state. Man has lost his 
true relations to God and the reason of God ; 
it will be soon enough for him to talk about 
the philosophy (as he chooses to call it) of 
these relations, when he shall have been in 
6ome degree restored to his true position by 



80 



divinp: faith and 



the only mode of restoration. When Jesns 
Christ made the revelation and commanded 
it to be taught to all nations, and instituted 
sacraments to accompany the teaching, as a 
portion of the revealed faith, it is evident 
that he would commission the sacerdotal order 
to teach the supernatural trnth revealed, and 
gave them no authority to teach the thoughts 
and opinions, and science (if you will) of their 
natural reason and uninspired common sense. 
He could not reveal these, for they were 
already known. He could not instruct the 
sacerdotal order to teach them as revelation, 
for they were not. And, moreover, it is a 
fact of reason (which is always in the nature 
of a deduction) that the revelation was made 
and commanded to be taught, because natural 
reason and uninspired common sense were 
unfit to instruct and redeem the soul from 
its ruined spiritual condition, and restore it 
to its true relation to the Father of the super- 
natural world, and thereby prepare it for a 
happy immortality. Reason further teaches 
that the measure of the obligation of the 
human race to a divine revelation, is not its 
own strength, but this measure is the scope 
of the revelation commanded to be taught. 
This, and not the strength of reason, intellect, 
judgment — all sense and capacities teach us, 



NATURAL REASON. 



81 



must be the measure of obligation and duty. 
To deny any of these statements is to deny 
the ability of God, in mercy to man, to do 
any thing above his experience and precon- 
ceptions, combined with his powers of reason. 
It is to limit God in organizing a religion 
to restore man to his true spiritual relations 
to the supernatural world, which he had so 
fatally lost, so to act as not to conflict with 
our antecedent notions of what is consistent 
with his mercy, and ability, and sagacity. 
Thus arraigning God is not simple atheism — it 
is surely blasphemous in the extreme. Reason 
teaches no such madness : she always demands 
that all the natural powers of man yield im- 
plicit faith and obedience to a supernatural 
revelation. The fundamental error of the re- 
jecters of the faith the Church teaches is in 
opposing the power of reason to the rights 
of faith, and then opposing natural reason 
to supernatural revelation. This may, in all 
humility, be said to be a definition of all 
heresy. And upon this mistake, the rejecter 
of the faith concludes that when God's rev- 
elations are superior (above) to any capaci- 
ties of comprehension and power of rational 
analysis which he possesses, they are false; 
that they are not to be believed, because con- 
trary to his reason and common sense. This 

6 



82 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



is the same tiling as to deny the supernatural 
altogether, and is therefore, in its analysis, 
atheistical. It is just this: it is, as a funda- 
mental to faith, elevating our reason and com- 
mon sense upon an equality with God's reason 
and common sense (reverently and humanly 
speaking), and then disputing with him His 
truth whenever it does not correspond to our 
preconceptions and notions. And the Church, 
so far from admitting this, and the principle 
of this, to be reason, reproves it with un- 
sparing energy as utter madness. For she 
knows, what reason also knows, that the 
moment the natural is made the standard 
of the supernatural, that moment also is the 
principle established by which all revelation 
is not only disproved, but made impossible. 
Revelation is useless if such be the fact ; and 
if useful, it can never be established with such 
a standard, at once, for its supernaturalness 
and infallibility. No fact in the natural order 
is disproved because its reason is not under- 
stood. No logician can pretend to any such 
rule of evidence concerning the veraciousness 
of facts. Whoever will object to the existence 
of a fact because he is ignorant of its reason 
(its philosophy), will, on his own principle, 
disprove all truths the reasons of which he 
does not understand, but which other men, 



NATURAL REASON. 



S3 



of superior learning, experience, and culti- 
vation, do fully comprehend by their reason 
or philosophy. It is thus seen that the rule 
is one of supreme absurdity, and not a canon 
of reason at all. It is destructive of all reason 
superior from any cause to the reason of him 
who makes the canon the rule of his faith 
and the measure of his credence. And it 
is hardly to be supposed that the sublimest 
natural reason will not admit that the reason 
of the eternal God (so, and humanly speaking) 
is not superior to his. And this brings to 
the understanding the vivid madness of nat- 
ural reason claiming even to exercise a philo- 
sophical jurisdiction over a supernatural reve- 
lation. The supernatural is a sphere of life 
and reason out of, above, beyond — incompre- 
hensibly — the sphere of natural reason and 
its life. It is doubtless true that the reasons 
or philosophies of things — of facts — existing 
in the supernatural order, are incapable of 
being generally, if at all, communicated to 
the natural understanding in the natural order. 
And it is only such facts, existing in that 
order, as concern our relations to the super- 
natural world, that are revealed or commu- 
nicated at all. There are, most surely, un- 
imaginable facts, glorious and inconceivably 
splendid, existing in the supernatural world, 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



which, as naked facts, cannot be communi- 
cated to us, because their inexpressible gran- 
deur would overwhelm our littleness.* Nay, 
they are upon us, and around us, and we are 
too diminutive to perceive them. 

The canon of credence we are discussing is 
thus seen to be at fault in every department 
of every order to which it may be applied. 
The promise to the Church in the commission, 
by its divine Founder, to be with her all days, 
even to the consummation of the world ; and 
that other promise, " I will send you another 
Comforter, even the Holy Ghost, to abide 
with you forever, and to guide you into all 
truth, and to bring to your remembrance all 
things whatsoever I have said unto you," will 
be annulled by this most fallacious standard. 
Are these promises of God ? Has the Church 
the pledge of his infallible word, that he will 
be with her as her Guide and Remembrancer, 
while she teaches all nations, even to the end 
of the world? She knows she has. And 
reason affirms that this pledge is the surest, 
the most infallible, she can by possibility 
receive to assure faith of every fact. Reason 
cries out and demands that she and common 
sense be not used to contradict the plain word 



* 2 Corinthians, ch. xii. 



NATURAL REASON. 



85 



of God revealed to the Apostles. Reason 
affirms that she is that element of the soul, 
together with all other of poor humanity's 
powers, which revealed truth was designed 
to enlighten, purify, and chasten in its dark- 
ness and debasements, and to strengthen, 
through faith, in its weakness. And is she 
to discredit the sublime revelation ? The rea- 
soning of that intellect, however profound, 
and the judgment of that common sense, how- 
ever grasping, which could come to such a 
conclusion, would surely be a counsellor as 
unwise as unsafe. 

We hence conclude, upon the purest reason 
and the most chastened common sense, that 
all the probabilities are, that the religion re- 
vealed was free from all mixture of error, and 
that the sacerdotal order to whom was com- 
mitted its teaching — perpetuation — have the 
promise of the blessed Jesus himself, limited 
and confined to their order, that he will be 
always with them as a guide and remem- 
brancer ; that the gates of hell cannot prevail 
against the guide, to mislead it or to blot out 
the remembrance of all the things committed to 
their keeping. Reason teaches that the prom- 
ises are as sure now as they were the day the 
pledges were made ; and that faith may trust 
them with all the assurance with which she 

8 



86 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



received them at the instant they were given. 
The Church believes on the authority of her 
Divine Founder's Wokd, which is an anchor 
for human reason, that she is an infallible 
teacher. And she feels a perfect assurance 
that reason teaches that Christ would organize 
no other Church to teach his Word than an 
infallible one, because he would not organize 
a teacher to mislead reason herself. He was 
under the highest obligations and necessities 
(humanly speaking) to organize no other, for 
the very reason that reason would be misled 
if one were organized which could teach error. 
His faithfulness to his word of promise, there- 
fore, required him to consecrate an order of 
infallible teachers, because, if the sacerdotal 
order, to whom he committed the keeping of 
his word, could err in teaching it, then indeed 
was his promise false. But reason, which 
credits the promise, denounces the conclusion 
as abhorrent ; and that sort of reason which 
discredits the promise, we hold no argument 
with in the present essay. As soon as the 
sacerdotal order began to teach error, so 
soon his promise was void — failed. As soon 
as it failed to teach " all things" whatsoever he 
had commanded, the order not only violated 
the command, but he violated his promise. 
These are conclusions of reason, upon the 



NATURAL REASON. 



87 



premises that the Church is fallible in her 
teaching, as certain as they are abhorrent in 
their nature to every sentiment of faith which 
the Church and her devout children cherish 
for the word of God. The children of the 
Church rely with undoubting confidence, with 
a holy, unfaltering trust, which no terrors 
shake, no blandishments seduce, upon her 
teaching as the infallible truth ; and this faith 
they cherish as strict reason and pure common 
sense, because it is the province of these to 
demand an infallible guide, and to importune 
faith to believe whatever facts God reveals. 



SECTION" V. 

What did the Saoeedotal Oedee — the Apostles — 
Teaoh ? By what Authoeity ? With what Lntol- 
ebanoe to innovation \ and with what rlgohous 
Consistency, and henoe Especial Exolusiveness ? 
The Position of Natural Reason in Relation to 
the Teaching of this Sacerdotal Oedee. 

"We are thus brought to the question, what 
faith did the sacerdotal order teach, and what 
institutions did they establish ? It is obvious 
that this is a plain matter of simple fact. ~No 
amount of human reason can attain to it or 
fathom it. All the combined powers of the 



88 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



mind, by simple and original exertion, could 
not discover the revelation which God had to 
present it. The reason is plain : the problem 
songht was not of the order of natural reason, 
nor of the order of human intelligence. The 
solution sought is, we have said, a plain matter 
of simple fact, but of the supernatural order. 
Its order, character, sphere of residence, are 
superhuman. Human reason cannot reveal 
it; because, if it .could, human intelligence, 
human reason, not God, would reveal the fact. 
And the most heated devotee of reason will 
not claim for her such absolute and super- 
natural power as to be capable of revealing 
facts from God. He did reveal supernatural 
facts to reason and all the human mind. But 
reason never could usurp the authority of the 
the Almighty, and evoke from him his secret 
counsels and promulge them to herself. If 
both reason and common sense teach us, with 
the utmost assurance, the truth of any natural 
or spiritual fact or proposition, it is this they 
so teach. So we are brought back to the origi- 
nal question: What plain matters of simple 
fact did the Apostles, the sacerdotal order, 
teach? Their commission instructs them as 
follows : " All power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and 
teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 



NATURAL REASON. 



89 



of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you : 
and lo, I am with yon alway, even nnto the 
end of the world. Amen." It is seen that 
on the face of the authority there are no dog- 
mas of faith specified (written out or recorded) 
which the Apostles were to teach. These 
things which were commanded to be taught 
were Traditionary Revelations which had 
before been communicated to the Apostles. 
They may, with the perfect propriety of a 
just definition, be called "Apostolic Tradi- 
tions," which the sacerdotal order were com- 
manded to teach. And so is the fact in re- 
lation to the observances they were to teach. 
These observances, whatever they were, were 
traditions before revealed ; their existence con- 
sisted in tradition, and so we may call them, 
without any offence to their nature or the 
proprieties of speech, " Traditionary Apostolic 
Observances." 

It is thus seen, that when the holy Catho- 
lic Apostolic Church was organized by her 
divine Master, and the sacerdotal order con- 
stituted to teach the truths deposited with 
it, thaj: all of its faith, the entire mass 

OF ITS DOGMAS, WERE TRADITIONS. The faith 

and observances of the gospel were traditions 

8* 



90 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



at the moment of the birth, creation, organi- 
zation of the Church of Jesus Christ. And 
that these traditions might be kept pure, and 
be purely transmitted, through all time, to 
all nations, was the very purpose of consti- 
tuting the sacerdotal order to teach so far as 
reason, at least, is informed. And a super- 
natural means was provided by the blessed 
Jesus to preserve purely and transmit exact- 
ly the apostolic traditions and observances, 
which were supernatural revelations. The 
first means he so provided is written upon the 
face of the divine commission, and consists 
in his perpetual personal presence, body, soul, 
and divinity, in his Church : " Lo I Am with 
you always, even unto the end of the world." 
His personal and perpetual presence in his 
entire being, in his " I Am," therefore in his 
body, soul, and divinity, ought to satisfy rea- 
son that it was, is, and ever will be, impossible 
to corrupt these apostolic traditions by inter- 
polations and changes in the dogmas of faith 
and sacramental observances. The Church 
is thus secured against what may be called 
active or positive error. Can she, by forget- 
ting any of the apostolic traditions and ob- 
servances, negatively or positively err? The 
personal dwelling of Christ with his Church 
ought to secure it against this form of error. 



NATURAL REASON. 



91 



But the fact is not left to inference, which 
is an act of reason. Inference is excluded, 
and so reason is excluded, in the examination 
of truth in this instance. For we read in 
St. John's Gospel, ch. xiv., v. 12, 16-26, 
as follows : " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, 
he that believeth on me, the works that I do 
he shall do also ; and greater than these shall 
he do ; because I go unto my Father." " And 
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you 
another Comforter, that he may abide with 
you forever" " These things have I spoken 
unto you, being yet present with you. But 
the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom 
the Father will send in my name, He shall 

TEACH TOTJ ALL THINGS AND BRING- ALL THINGS TO 
YOUR REMEMBRANCE, WHATSOEVER I HAVE SAID 

unto you." So that we see the Church is 
infallibly secured against passive or negative 
error in the keeping and teaching the apostolic 
traditions and observances. But the Church 
is still further secured. The security she has 
thus far is alone as to matters of simple fact. 
But the divine mind, foreseeing that the 
Church, in defining (declaring their nature 
and the limits — extent — of their belief) the 
dogmas of the apostolic traditions, after the 
lapse of ages, would (at least seemingly) be 
under the necessity of using facts of reason 



92 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



in connection with her investigations of the 
divine truths contained in these traditions — - 
the divine mind, we say, provided an infal- 
lible security against error here, if ever the 
Church was, or shall be, brought to the test. 
If the Church ever did use a fact of reason 
(humanly speaking) in investigating and de- 
fining the apostolic traditions committed to 
her keeping, or ever shall do it — she did, and 
she will, use it with infallible correctness and 
certainty. She has the word and promise 
of God that she did and that she will ; and 
these are sure guarantees and infallible cer- 
tainties. This promise is well stated in St. 
John's Gospel, ch. xvi., ver. 7-14: "Never- 
theless I tell you the truth; it is expedient 
for you that I go away ; for if I go not away 
the Comforter will not come unto you; but 
if I depart I will send him unto you. How- 
beit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all TRUTH ; for he shall 
not speak of himself ; but whatsoever he shall 
hear, that shall he speak ; and he will show 
you things to come. He shall glorify me ; for 
he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto 
you." The Church, then, is secure against 
active or positive error ; she is secure against 
passive or negative error ; and she is also 
secure against error in stating a fact of reason 



NATURAL REASON. 



93 



connected with the necessary investigation 
and definition of the apostolic traditions and 
observances in the fulfilment of the commis- 
sion. Now, then, let us repeat the question : 
What plain matters of simple fact did the 
Apostles, the sacerdotal order, teach, in pur- 
suance of the commission which commanded 
them to teach and observe the apostolic tra- 
ditions ? An examination of the commission 
gives an answer to the question. The} 7 taught 
"all things whatsoever he had commanded 
them." It is not the purpose of this essay to 
show that this or that dogma of the faith 
which the Church teaches to her children was 
revealed to the Apostles, to be by them, and 
their successors in office, taught to the world. 
This we leave the sincere inquirer to ascertain 
from other sources, which are abundant and 
readily to be found, whenever he chooses to 
make au examination for himself. It is the 
object of this production to show the har- 
monious relations between the divine faith, 
which the Church teaches, and natural reason, 
and to exhibit to the popular mind that the 
faith of the Church does not crush reason or 
usurp its authority. With only this object 
in hand, it is not proposed to show — except 
incidentally and uuder illustration — that any 
one dogma of faith which the Church has 



94 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



always held, from the day of the commission 
till now, was among the " all things " Christ 
revealed to the Apostles during his prepara- 
tion of them for the sacerdotal order, and 
at his ascension commanded them to teach 
as apostolic traditions, " to all the world," to ' 
the end of time. Our mode of treating the 
question makes this explanation necessary. 

As the line of thought has been interrupted 
by the explanation, we repeat the question: 
What plain matters of simple fact did the 
Apostles teach? The answer is, all things 
whatsoever Christ had (before that) com- 
manded them. And as the mysteries of the 
Immaculate Conception of his Mother, his 
Conception, his Sacred Humanity, his Resur- 
rection and Ascension, were some of the neces- 
sary elements of his teaching, it is very clear 
their teachings were of facts which belonged 
to an order to which reason did not belong. 
This was a supernatural fact lying at the 
foundation of all their dogmas, and sacraments, 
and observances. But this fact, though re- 
vealed, when established by competent testi- 
mony, did not usurp the authority of reason ; 
for reason has no authority to say what shall 
or shall not be revealed from the supernatural 
order to the natural order. The revelation, 
then, was no usurpation : it merely presented 



NATURAL REASON. 



95 



to reason a new fact from a new order, which 
lay entirely beyond the domain of reason ; 
and a fact she never could have known other- 
wise than by a revelation from the supernatu- 
ral order, to which the revealed fact belonged, 
and from which it came to enlighten reason, 
but not to crush it. It is manifest that every 
fact which reason knows through faith, by 
a revelation from the supernatural order, is 
so much additional enlightenment and ex- 
tension of her knowledge. Revelation, as a 
fact, and of a fact, is an extension of knowl- 
edge, and not an abolition of reason. Those 
Christian sects who reject the faith of the 
Church on the teachings of their human rea- 
son, are cordially entreated to review their 
lessons of reason, and to examine the truth 
of this position in passing their review. We 
address this entreaty to professed Christians ; 
to atheists it is not addressed : it takes another 
line of argument to reach them. 

In teaching " all things whatsoever" which 
Christ commanded them, the Apostles taught 
" one Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephes. 
iv. 5). And they so taught this with rigor- 
ous exclusion and the utmost intolerance of 
any innovation. They allowed no variation 
from the faith, but required their teachings 
of the apostolic traditions to be implicitly 



96 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



and exactly followed and obeyed. They were 
careful and exact, and authoritative, even in the 
very form of the words in which the dogmas 
of faith were communicated ; and they required 
their successors, as they instituted them, " to 
hold fast to this form of sound words" by 
which faith was communicated. We cite on 
these propositions, indifferently, these writ- 
ten scriptures : In an epistle written a. d. 65, 
thirty-two years after the crucifixion of the 
blessed Saviour, it is said, " Hold fast the 
form of sound words which thou hast heard 
of me, in faith and love which is in Christ 
J esus. That good thing which was committed 
unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which 
dwelleth in us." (2 Tim. i. 2, 3.) "Thou, 
therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that 
is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast 
heard of me among many witnesses, the same 
commit thou to faithful men, who shall be 
able to teach others also." (2 Tim. ii. 1, 2.) 
In an epistle, written a. d. 59, twenty-six 
years after the crucifixion, we read : "Be ye 
followers of me, even as I am also of Christ. 
Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remem- 
ber me in all things, and keep the ordinances, 
as I delivered them unto you." (1 Cor. xi. 
1, 2.) "As they went through the cities, they 
delivered them the decrees for to keep, which 



NATURAL REASON. 



97 



were ordained of the Apostles and elders 
which were at Jerusalem. And so were the 
churches established in the faith and increased 
in number daily." (Acts xvi. 4, 5 ; a. d. 54, 
and 21 years after the crucifixion.) In a. d. 
59, the Corinthians are told : " Wherefore, I 
beseech you, be ye followers of me. For this 
cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who 
is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, 
who shall bring you into remembrance of my 
ways, which he in Christ, as I teach every- 
where in every church." (1 Cor. iv. 17.) It 
is said, in an epistle written a. d. 54, twenty- 
one years after the crucifixion: "E~ow we 
command you, brethren, in the name of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw your- 
selves from every brother that walketh dis- 
orderly, and not after the tradition which 
he received from us." (2 Thess. ii. 6.) In 
an epistle written a. d. 90, and fifty-seven 
years after the crucifixion, it is said : " He 
that abideth in the doctrine of Christ (what 
he taught) he hath both the Father and the 
Son. If there come any unto you, and bring 
not this doctrine, receive him not into your 
house, neither bid him God speed ; for he 
that biddeth him God speed is partaker of 
his evil deeds." (2 John, 9, 10, 11.) In 2 
Thessalonians ii. 15, written a. d. 54, twenty- 

7 9 



98 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



one years after the crucifixion, the Apostle 
says : " Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and 
hold the traditions which ye have been 
taught, whether by word or our epistle." 
In the epistle to the Galatians, written a. d. 
58, and twenty-five years after the crucifixion, 
the Apostle says : " But though we, or an 
angel from heaven, preach unto you any other 
gospel than that which we have preached 
unto you, let him be accursed" We might 
quote indefinitely, but these are enough to 
maintain, most fully, the point we have cited 
them to maintain. 

The Church's intoleration of innovation has, 
in all ages, been a prominent feature in her 
character, and always chief in the list of ac- 
cusations against her. Only by this intoler- 
ance can she preserve her being, and the Word 
of God, guaranteeing her perpetuity. She is 
the spiritual state of the world. She is to he 
the spiritual state of the world, to the end of 
time. But if she were to tolerate any aboli- 
tion of, or innovation upon, her constitution, 
which is her faith, and the immediate gift of 
God, she would cease to be the spiritual state 
of the world instantaneously. She has not, 
she will not change. She cannot change. She 
will allow no one to teach, within her bosom, 
any change. She was as ready to repulse and 



NATURAL REASON. 



99 



excommunicate Simon Magus, Cerinthus, Hy- 
menseus, the Mcholaits, Ebion, Menander, 
Basilides, Saturninus, and the ISTazareans, in 
the first century ; the Cainists, the Elxai, the 
Millenarians, the Gnostics, Carpocrates, the 
Adamites, Valentinus, Cerdo, Marcion, Theo- 
dorus the banker, Theodorus the tanner, Her- 
aclion, the Ophites, Marcus and Colorbasus, 
Tatian and the Enceralites, Bardesanes, Mon- 
tanus, Priscilla and Maximilla, Hermogenes, 
Apelles, Praxes, Seleucus, Hermias, Artemas, 
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, in the 
second century ; and the Bebaptizers, the N~o- 
etians, Privatus, Berillus, the Arabici, Nova- 
tian, the Sabellians, Paul of Samosata, the 
Origenists, Manes, the Hieracithse, Yalens, 
Felicissimus, Angelica, the Apostolici, Nepos, 
and Coracion, in the third century, as she was 
ready to repulse and excommunicate the sev- 
eral hundred forms of heresies which have 
arisen since the close of the fifteenth century. 
It has occurred to the writer, that if any 
one of ordinary attainments would take But- 
ler's Lives of the Saints, and turn to the col- 
lection of events in the history of the world, 
embraced in the chronological index of that 
remarkable book, he might, by the help of 
this index, construct an argument of fact, 
so to speak, by the simple process of elimi- 



100 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



nation — an algebraical argument, proving, 
beyond any doubt, that the Church teaches 
to-day what she has ever taught. Tor as each 
heresiarch successively arose, in each succes- 
sive age, and broached his errors, the Church 
examined them by the standard of her divinely 
revealed faith, condemned them, and excom- 
municated those who adopted them as cor- 
rupters of the truth, which she had always held. 

In this way the very heresies are forced 
to establish the original and ever-abidiug 
faith of the Church. And this by a double 
process: First, the Church, in the process of 
condemnation and excommunication, neces- 
sarily made an indestructible mark of the truth 
she maintained, as well as the errors she con- 
demned : Secondly, the heretics, in their at- 
tacks upon the Church and resistance to the 
truth, as taught by her, necessarily made 
another indestructible mark as to what the 
Church believed and taught. Hence, by the 
simple process of eliminating these heresies 
from the Church, the truth, as always main- 
tained, would be securely established. Well, 
then, supposing — not asserting, at present — 
that the Apostles, in obedience to the command 
of the commission, taught that the Blessed 
Virgin conceived of the Holy Ghost and was 
at once a virgin and a mother ; that God was 



NATURAL REASON. 



101 



clothed in human flesh, taken from his ever- 
virgin mother ; that he was born in a stable ; 
was really and trnly God and man, in the one 
person of Jesus Christ ; that he was crucified 
in fact, and not only in appearance as the 
Basilides and his followers said — supposing 
that the Apostles taught all these, and many 
more mysteries of faith, then the Church can 
prove all the enumerated mysteries and all 
the others she has always held, by the heretics 
and heresies she has condemned for denying, 
and humanizing, and rationalizing her dogmas 
and observances into crude humanities. So 
it can be done, for any heretic and heretical 
doctrine, from Simon Magus to the prophet 
of the Mormons. But if the Apostles did 
teach these sublime mysteries of faith, did 
they, in so doing, impose upon reason, crush 
its authority, and dethrone it from any of its 
rightful power? If they did, they instituted 
an antagonism between divine faith and nat- 
ural reason. But it is manifest that they 
instituted none such ; they taught the revealed 
facts, and it is the highest province of reason 
to credit a fact. If reason, in her rightful 
' supremacy, have a higher prerogative than 
another, it is this one of yielding credence 
to a fact. In her own order, which is the 
natural order, reason may or may not exercise 

9* 



102 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



supremacy over faith, and discredit a fact 
which, she cannot comprehend, and the philos- 
ophy of which she cannot understand. I by 
no means admit that she may thus discredit 
a fact in her own order. But when a fact 
is revealed to her from the supernatural order, 
by a supernatural agent (the fact and revealer 
being beyond her order), which fact originates 
with a power and in a philosophy out of her 
sphere of action, and of course above her 
comprehension, then the chiefest supremacy 
of reason is at once to yield credence to the 
fact and obedience to its nature and behests. 
To refuse credence in such a case, because of 
incomprehension, would not be an act of rea- 
son, but an act of insanity. The sovereignty 
of reason, in this case, consists entirely in 
excluding delusion and mistake, and so satis- 
fying herself that the revelation is real — is 
a fact, shown to her by a supernatural power ; 
and when delusion and mistake are excluded, 
then her chief supremacy and noblest obli- 
gations are to believe the fact and conform 
to the duties it imposes. To make her com- 
prehension of the nature and authority of the 
order revealing, and her understanding of the 
necessity and philosophy of the fact revealed, 
the measure of the credence to be yielded, 
would be not only an unreasonable act, but 



NATURAL REASON. 



103 



one of rank absurdity. Reason, in believing 
and practising revealed truth, would not only 
not sacrifice herself, but would fulfil the most 
rational duty her supremacy could impose 
upon her for her own safety and well-being 
— provided the revelation concerned them. 

We have thus shown, generally, that the 
sacerdotal order, the Apostles, taught " all 
things whatsoever" Christ had commanded, 
hefore he gave them the catholic commission 
to teach all nations, for all time ; and we 
have shown the position and relation of reason 
to this teaching. That supremacy consisted, 
we see, in this : When the sacerdotal order 
entered upon their mission, and taught all 
things commanded, as facts revealed to them 
by the God-man, Jesus Christ — the chief su- 
premacy of reason was to believe and adore, 
without regard to her powers of comprehen- 
sion, in her order, which is the natural. 

We have not entered upon, and do not 
intend to enter upon, an inquiry as to what 
were the specific dogmas of faith the Apos- 
tles taught, and the actual institutions they 
established ; because these do not come di- 
rectly within the range and purpose of this 
essay, which, as before said, is simply to 
establish the harmonious relations between 
divine revelation and natural reason. A dis- 



104 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



belief in this most rational doctrine is a 
great misfortune to all who entertain the 
disbelief. It is ruinous to their hopes, if they 
have any, of immortal happiness, and is de- 
structive to the purest pleasures of even their 
natural understandings. It shuts up the en- 
trance to the gates of the most refreshing 
consolations, both of faith and reason, in the 
natural order. 

The opinion that the Church teaches a faith 
which enslaves the understanding is as fal- 
lacious now as when the polished Greeks 
scoffed at the doctrines as foolishness, and 
the cultivated Romans shed oceans of Chris- 
tian blood to extirpate a faith which they 
alleged dethroned reason and their gods at 
once. We think, in the sequel, that this 
will appear so clearly, that no candid, earnest 
inquirer will ever again lay this charge against 
the infallible Church. If the charge could 
be made good, then, indeed, it would be a 
well-founded objection to the tenets of her 
faith — requiring very clear evidence that rea- 
son and faith are incompatible, and that the 
former must succumb, without demur, to the 
dictates of the latter ; but as it is a fatal 
mistake, as all who will scrutinize her doc- 
trines must confess,, we reverentially entreat 
for the canons of the Church a careful and 



NATURAL REASON. 



105 



honest examination. And may we kindly 
ask the reader to go with us while we, with 
profound regard for his judgment, and even 
with deferential respect to his prejudices, calm- 
ly, fearlessly, without vituperation, and free 
from all hatred, unfold the truth we have 
undertaken to develop? 



SECTION VI. 

What is the Evidence of what the Saceedotal 
Order taught, and the Institutions the Apos- 
tles established ? And how shall this Evidence 
be investigated ? 

These inquiries, of course, are propounded 
to men who believe that Christ commissioned 
a sacerdotal order, then consisting of his im- 
mediate Apostles. To these he had before 
revealed " all things whatsoever " they were 
to teach, and to them, in the commission itself, 
he gave the infallible promise of his Word 
that he would abide with them forever ; and 
he also promised to send the Holy Ghost to 
guide them into all truth, and to bring to 
their remembrance " all things whatsoever " 
he had revealed for their instruction in the 
apostolic traditions, and through them for the 
instruction and guidance of their successors 



106 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



in office, to teach all nations, for all time. 
We have just seen that when the sacerdotal 
order was constituted to teach the truths de- 
posited with it, that all of the faith, the en- 
tire mass of dogmas, were traditions; that 
it so appears in the very terms of the com- 
mission itself. The teaching order were to 
act by bringing to the knowledge of all na- 
tions the facts contained in these traditions, 
which were revelations from Jesus Christ, 
before delivered to the saints, or sacerdotal 
order. And their special duty was to teach, 
to perpetuate, these traditions, consisting of 
these revelations. The evidence, therefore, 
of what the Apostles did, exists in their acts 
and in the institutions they established ; just 
as the evidence of what our government, or 
any government, teaches, exists in the acts 
and institutions of the government. 

If we desire to know what our govern- 
ment has taught concerning the rights and 
obligations of its citizens, we examine its 
acts. If these have been uniform and un- 
varying, we perceive that there has been no 
change, but that the government has always 
spoken one uniform language on the subject 
investigated; but if the acts of the govern- 
ment have been changing, capricious, and not 
uniform, we then perceive and can specify the 



NATURAL REASON. 



107 



changes in their extent, in their character, 
and in their number. It is thus that the 
authoritative legislation (teaching) of a state 
may be known, without any donbt, in all its 
vicissitudes. This authoritative legislation, 
and the received authorized commentaries 
(judicial decisions) upon it, must fully instruct 
us in the teaching of any government, in 
which letters are known, concerning the power 
and authority of the government itself, and 
the rights and obligations of the governed. 

Now in that spiritual state, or government, 
known as the Church, there was always a 
knowledge of letters ; and for long ages she 
monopolized this knowledge. And in every 
age her children have been first in thorough 
scholarship, first in science and art. And 
even unto this very day, the devout student of 
the fine arts, who devotes himself exclusively 
to his mistress, is as sure to find his way 
to Rome, to refine and fit him for a worthy 
espousal, as is the devout son of the Church 
who devotes himself exclusively to the service 
of his holy Mother. Both the artist and son 
of the Church long for nothing so much aa 
to pour out their devotions into the lap of a 
common mother — the patron alike of arts, 
science, genius, and the foster-mother of all 
her devout children, who come to her to in- 



108 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



crease in faith, hope, and charity, at the altars 
of St. Peter. Hence, to investigate what the 
Church has always held, and in what duties 
and obligations she has always instructed her 
children, and to ascertain what power she has 
always retained, and what authority she has 
always exercised, and to know in what precise 
manner she has always exercised it, we must 
pursue the natural line of conduct we would 
follow to investigate the acts of the civil state. 

We must look into the legislation (teaching- 
acts) of the fathers of the Church. We must 
scrutinize their epistles, their commentaries; 
their controversies with, and judgment upon, 
heretics, from Simon Magus to the Mormon 
Prophet ; their homilies, their catechisms, their 
liturgies, their definitions or declarations of 
faith, and the decrees of their authorized coun- 
cils. If this legislation — these acts — speak one 
uniform language as to the faith of the Church, 
in whatever part of the world they may be 
found, then they undoubtedly establish the 
catholicity (universality) of the teaching and 
belief of the Church. And they do more : they 
establish not only the belief (faith) of the 
Church, but they also establish the customs 
and practices of the Church under her creed. 
An unbroken custom of doing certain things 
in the practice of a faith, is surely the highest 



NATURAL REASON. 



109 



and most secure evidence of the creed or belief 
itself. Institutions are so identical with creeds, 
that the analysis which would distinguish 
them would be much too subtle for solid and 
popular use. This is readily seen to be so in 
the civil state, when the governing power rules 
in accordance with the organic law and the 
will of the people. It must be so in the 
spiritual state, which is the Church ; for it is 
an essential principle in the real nature of 
things, and lies at the foundation of all actions 
in which humanity is instrumental, in the 
spiritual state, that creed should illustrate 
observances, and that observances should il- 
lustrate creed. So it is plainly seen how easy 
it is to go up to the very altars of the Apostles 
and receive the faith. If in one step on our 
way up to those altars, we find change, vari- 
ation, we have infallible proof of error, and 
we must turn back : we are not on the way of 
the apostolic traditions, which were traditions 
of Jesus Christ to the Church. But if there 
is perfect uniformity of faith and observances, 
with no change or variation in either ; if the 
acts of the fathers of this universal Church 
teach — assert — that the creed they taught, and 
the customs they practised, were received from 
the Apostles, and had no other foundation 
than the faith and administration of the Apos- 
10 



110 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ties, surely we arrive at exactly what the 
Apostles taught, and see the customs and min- 
istrations they instituted. Reason certainly 
assures us thus far; and she stands erect, 
lofty, and unbending, in giving us the assur- 
ance. But the Apostles taught " all things 
whatsoever" Christ had commanded them, 
and so taught an immediate revelation from 
him. That the fathers taught this revelation 
with his authority and infallible verity, is in 
the highest degree certain. If in their acts, 
epistles, catechisms, homilies, liturgies, con- 
troversies, ministrations, dying bequests, the 
first saints and martyrs, who were fathers in 
the Church, leave a memorial of their creed, 
teaching, and customs, then it is the fulness 
of reason to credit these as the deliverances 
of the Apostles, made in obedience to their 
commission to teach all nations whatsoever 
they were commanded. For instance: St. 
Ignatius was bishop of Antioch, consecrated 
such by St. Peter, and he was a companion 
of SS. Peter, Paul, and St. John the evan- 
gelist. St. Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna, 
consecrated such by St. John the Evangelist, 
who calls him in the Apocalypse " the angel 
of the Church at Smyrna." He was the friend 
and companion of St. J ohn and of St. Irenseus, 
the martyr of Lyons. Now, St. Ignatius was 



NATURAL EEASON. 



Ill 



arrested at Antioch and taken to Rome, and 
fed to lions in the amphitheatre, a. d. 107 : 
St. Poly carp was martyred a. d. 166 : and St. 
Irenseus was martyred a. d. 202. And each 
of these bishops and martyrs was in com- 
munion with — teaching the same faith and ad- 
ministering the same sacraments with, all their 
contemporaries, in all the world. If you will 
recur to the previous section, yon will see the 
list of heresies which had arisen and had been 
eliminated from — condemned by, the Church 
before the death of St. Irenseus. Now glance 
again at the chronological relations those holy 
bishops and doctors sustained to each other 
and to the Church. St. Ignatius is the friend 
of Peter, Paul, and John. St. John and St. 
Ignatius are friends of St. Polycarp. And 
St. Polycarp stands between St. John and 
St. Irenseus, with one hand receiving the de- 
posit of faith from St. John, and with the other 
depositing it on the altars at which St. Irenseus 
ministered. We entreat for these facts a 
patient, careful, and reflective consideration, 
to be made in the light of candor and with 
the aid of prayer. What do they import as 
the surest thing in the nature of all things, 
of all orders? Peason says that they give 
us the utmost assurance, absolute, uncondi- 
tional knowledge, that all the faith, the entire 



112 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



mass of dogmas, which, constituted the apos- 
tolic traditions and the apostolic observances, 
which were the revelations of Jesns Christ 
that the sacerdotal order were organized to 
perpetuate, were taught and perpetuated in 
their purity down to the death of St. Irenseus, 
in a. d. 202. 

It is not a possible thing for reason to 
credit — she cannot believe that St. Ignatius, 
St. Polvcarp, and St. Irenseus did not teach 
the faith and administer the sacraments the 
Apostles taught and administered. Reason 
affirms, with all and with her utmost poten- 
tiality, that when we know what these doctors, 
and their contemporaries, and their immediate 
successors taught, that then we know, with 
the clearest precision and most undoubted 
certainty, what the Apostles taught as the 
revelation of the blessed Saviour. These men, 
who were going to martyrdom in its most 
horrid forms, for the faith, and who were 
excommunicating heretics for corrupting it, 
or teaching contrary to it, surely were not 
blind guides. It is as certain a thing as that 
there are now Catholics, that if these holy 
bishops of the Church and martyrs for the 
faith did not teach the traditionary revela- 
tions of Jesus Christ to the sacerdotal order, 
then no one else did. This is as certain as 



NATURAL REASON. 



113 



time, and sense, and reason. And if they 
did not, then it is just as certain that all 
the faith — the entire mass of dogmas con- 
tained in the traditionary revelations which 
Christ commanded to be taught, had already 
been lost, and the gates of hell had already 
prevailed against the Church, and the promises 
of Christ had already failed. It would be 
against reason and common sense to come to 
any other conclusion. If this be denied, we 
must deny all means of proving the authen- 
ticity of the written gospels and epistles as 
distinguished from the acts of the fathers. 
For these same fathers, of whose acts — cus- 
toms — we are seeking, gave to us the written 
Scriptures. They were the natural and neces- 
sary (mark the word, "necessary") custodians 
of these written Scriptures. These Scriptures 
had been written to the churches to which 
they were directed ; and those which have no 
direction were written for certain of the 
churches, at the request of the saints and 
fathers. The churches to or for which they 
were written had, of course, the true and ori- 
ginal Epistles and Gospels. The copies made 
from these were the real transcripts from the 
originals. By the force of these facts the 
fathers of the Church, in the council of Nice, 
a. d. 325, were enabled to determine, with 

8 10* 



114 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



clear exactitude, what writings then afloat in 
the world, purporting to be original Scriptures, , 
were genuine and what were false. And by 
the assistance of the Holy Ghost, in the same 
council, they were enabled to determine which 
Scriptures that were genuine were inspired 
and which were uninspired. 

On these two principles that council stamped 
the seal of verity and inspiration upon the 
genuine and inspired Scriptures, which seal 
remained unbroken until the Reformation, 
when the Reformers excluded certain books 
from the canon, and were well nigh excluding 
several more. So we say that to deny to 
the Fathers what is claimed for them by the 
Church, will be to destroy all evidence of 
the authenticity of the written Scriptures. 
(" Written Scriptures ;" the tautology is need- 
ful.) For the council of Nice is to be trust- 
ed, or it is not. If not, its determination 
is void and of no effect; and, as we have 
no other authority claiming to be valid, for 
what writings were and what were not genu- 
ine (leaving out the matter of inspiration), we 
are manifestly believing in Scriptures without 
any evidence (whether there be such or not), 
if we discredit the testimony of Nice. Be- 
lief without evidence is not an act of reason 
■ — it is an act of folly. But the voice of Mce 



NATURAL REASON. 



115 



was the voice of the universal Church, as- 
sembled from every part of the Christian 
world, in that council. Her bishops had been 
the keepers of the true epistles and gospels ; 
and all the Church had to do in that council, 
to identify genuine copies and to detect forged 
ones, was to make an act of simple compari- 
son. If a copy agreed with the original, kept 
by the bishop of Ephesus, for instance, then 
such copy was genuine, — it was St. Paul's 
Epistle to the Ephesians ; if the copy did not 
agree with the original, it was spurious, — it 
was not St. Paul's Epistle. Hence, an act of 
simple comparison, by the collective Church, 
who was the custodian of the real Scriptures, 
stamped the seal of verity on the genuine and 
the seal of falsehood on the spurious. And 
thus it was that the Church preserved from 
corruption and gave to the world the Scrip- 
tures, pure and free from all defilement. Now, 
every one of the three hundred and eighteen 
bishops ki that council believed and taught 
what St. Ignatius, St. Poly carp, and St. Ire- 
nseus, and their contemporaries, believed and 
taught; so that either way we may readily 
ascertain what the Apostles taught : we may 
examine what the fathers of Nice taught, and 
hence conclude what Ignatius, Polycarp, and 
Irenaeus, and the Apostles taught ; or we may 



116 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



examine the teachings of St. Ignatius and 
the others, and thus know what both the 
Apostles and the fathers of Nice taught. The 
fathers of Nice were not only the undoubted, 
but the undisputed, successors of the Apostles. 
Each one of all these fathers taught a certain 
faith and administered certain sacraments, 
as the faith and sacraments of the Apostles. 
This is what the Church teaches, .and it is a 
simple matter of fact whether it be so or not. 
It can be decided by just consulting these 
fathers. Such consultation, the children of 
the Church say, will, by a uniform, universal 
custom of the Church, take us back from the 
fourth century, and the council of Nice, to 
the altars and ministrations of the Apostles. 
The Church believes that any other conclusion 
would be against reason, and contradictory 
to common sense, as exhibited in the insti- 
tutions of mankind. And the Church knows 
that, beginning with the fathers of the fourth 
century, in the council of Nice, she »an estab- 
lish her present faith and institutions to be 
identical with theirs. She knows this as cer- 
tainly as any well-informed man, who never 
has been at Rome or London, knows there 
are such cities. Her children, who have never 
been in Egypt, have no more assurance of 
the existence of the pyramids than they, thus, 



NATURAL REASON. 117 

have that their mother, the Church, teaches 
the faith of the Apostles, or than they have 
that the Church now in communion with its 
head, Pius IX., is the same Church which 
assembled at Nice in communion with its 
then head, Pope St. Sylvester. This, as we 
have said, is a simple fact, or it is not. It 
can readily be solved by an appeal to the tra- 
ditions of the Apostles, their contemporaries, 
and their successors down to a. d. 325 ; and by 
the acts (traditions) of the same Church from 
a. d. 325 to the present time. Reason says 
so, and the rejecters of the Church's faith 
invest reason with a sort of undefined infal- 
libility. And if the Church teaches what the 
Apostles taught, then whoever is present at her 
teaching is present at the very teaching they 
taught. Reason sanctions this, too, with what- 
ever of irresistible power she possesses. Rea- 
son sanctions all this. But suppose she did 
not, and set up the plea of incomprehension. 
What then ? Is she to appeal from the teach- 
ing of the Apostles as untrue, because their 
teaching is not in conformity with her decrees 
as to which is credible or incredible ? If so, 
she can and must appeal from all supernatural 
revelation. The appeal denies all supernatu- 
ral authority, and power, and order. But in 
denying supernatural revelation, power, and 



118 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



authority, reason usurps a province and a 
sphere in which she has neither experience, 
nor authority, nor capacity to judge of what 
is credible or incredible ; much less has she 
supremacy to decide. She is obviously as- 
suming to make a reasonable decree upon a 
state of facts existing in an order of which 
she is utterly and supremely ignorant. And 
her own constitution teaches her this is not 
a legitimate exercise of her powers. For what 
reason is necessarily ignorant of, she cannot 
pronounce judgment upon, rationally. Now, 
in confirmation of the fathers of Nice, it must 
not be forgotten that from the days of the 
Apostles every bishop was in communion with 
every other bishop, and all in communion 
with the supreme Head of the Church. St. 
Ignatius, for instance, was in communion with 
all the other bishops of the world. Hence, 
if we know the creed he professed, and the 
sacraments he administered, we also know 
that of all other bishops. It is so now, 
and always was so ; and it is thus that the 
catholicity of the Church has always been 
known and maintained. She never tolerated 
any innovation upon her faith, as has been 
shown in a former section, but sternly repelled 
from her communion every innovation and 
innovator. If she could not reclaim heretics, 



NATURAL REASON. 



119 



she instantly cut them off from her com- 
munion. This is her exclusiveness now, and 
thus far she has been always intolerant and 
exclusive in all ages — she never has relented, 
nor never will. 

We come now to another evidence of what 
the Church has always taught. She not only 
believed and taught the apostolic traditions, 
or the verbal dogmas of faith, revealed to 
her by her divine Founder, but, in obedience 
to the same traditions and the same revelation, 
she established certain institutions or perpet- 
ual standards of her ministration or action. 

Before more than stating the fact, I de- 
sire to recur briefly to the force of institu- 
tions to perpetuate facts — to their efficiency 
in commemorating events. In illustration of 
the power and security there are in insti- 
tutions to perpetuate a fact, let two prominent 
ones — the one ancient and religious, the other 
modern and political — be referred to. The 
religious institution referred to is the passover, 
instituted by Moses on the night when the 
first-born of man and beast in Egypt were 
stricken with death. (Exodus xii.) The Is- 
raelites were commanded to slay a lamb and 
sprinkle its blood upon their door-posts, to 
eat it whole, to eat it with bitter herbs and 
unleavened bread, with their loins girt, their 



120 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



shoes on their feet, with their staffs in their 
hands, and to eat it with haste. And they 
were commanded to do so forever, at that 
season, as a perpetual memorial of the fact 
the institution was intended to commemorate. 
Now, if in any after age, no matter how 
remote or how near, any man had disputed 
the verity of the fact of the institution, would 
not the high priest, with all the sacerdotal 
order, together with all the children of Israel, 
have been able to confound the objector by 
the unity of the traditionary evidence — by 
the unbroken current of faith and practice 
from the time of Moses and Joshua? He 
would have been asked to point to the age 
and to the reign of the high priest in which 
the fabrication began. Reason would demand 
such a specification, accompanied by evidence 
of the least probable force. Any thing short 
of a direct statement as to when and by 
whom the innovation was made, would not 
be a reasonable allegation of a truth, under 
the circumstances. And the reason is ob- 
vious : without a positive statement of the 
kind, sustained by probable evidence, at least, 
the objector could urge nothing against the 
origin of the institution, and its faith, and its 
practice, ever since, save the general deduc- 
tion of his personal reason, that it was untrue 



NATURAL REASON. 



121 



as against reason in general. Yet this mode 
of reasoning is one universally adopted by 
those who reject the faith which the Church 
teaches her children. It is so remarkable for its 
violation of fact and logic, that we beg leave 
to restate the proposition : and we say, " with- 
out a positive statement of the kind, sustained 
by probable evidence at least, the objector 
could urge nothing against the origin of the 
institution and its faith and practice ever 
since, save the general deduction of his per- 
sonal reason, that it was untrue as against 
reason in general" This, we say, is a remark- 
able violation of both fact and logic : of logic, 
because, concluding from his personal reason 
to reason in general, is wholly unsound as a 
rule of inference. Better infer his own insan- 
ity, because opposed to the general reason. It 
is a violation of a fact, because the tradition is 
not opposed to reason in general : the general 
reason sustains it as both truth and reason. 
So that any man, from Moses to the crucifix- 
ion, who would oppose his general reason, 
unsupported by any specific fact, either re- 
vealed or unrevealed, to the universal faith 
and practice of all that period, of all the 
people of Israel, could never be regarded 
as a reasonable man. We now come back 
directly to the force of the unity of faith, as 
11 



122 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



seen in commemorative customs. We see that 
a denial of the custom, against the unbroken 
tradition, is not an act of reason or of fact. 

But look at it from another point of ob- 
servation ; and on the other hand, suppose 
that Moses had organized no such institution 
as the passover, with its sacred rites and cere- 
monies, and some high priest, or some other 
" crafty priest," or some other crafty Isrselke, 
had attempted, in some subsequent age, re- 
mote from or near to the Exodus, to organize 
the institution of the passover, to commem- 
orate the long antecedent, but imaginary, 
event. What chance would the heretic have 
had to impose his fabrication for a reality 
upon all the people of Israel? The chief 
priests, the entire sacerdotal order, and all the 
people, would have said, ki This is fiction, and 
not fact ; falsehood, and not truth. It is mani- 
festly and shamefully false, because neither we 
nor our fathers have ever seen or heard of this 
institution ; we nor our fathers have celebrated 
no such event, annually, at this season of the 
year, with these forms, and ceremonies, and 
faith, since Moses led us out of Egypt. No 
high priest, with the sacerdotal order, has 
ever ministered, by sacrifices and offerings, in 
the celebration of any such anniversary : the 
traditions and institutions of our fathers, for 



NATURAL REASON. 123 

all time, prove this to be an absurd attempt at 
an impudent innovation." Reason thus plain- 
ly and irresistibly decrees, with all her capa- 
cities, concerning the innovation and heresy, 
supposed to be an impossible fact in the Jew- 
ish Church. The sacerdotal order, always 
jealous of innovation, because bound to keep 
the faith, would have crushed it at once. 
Every right-minded man in Israel would have 
aided the hierarchy to preserve the faith. 
But if, by any possible imagination, the fabri- 
cation could have been introduced, it would 
have produced debate, conflict, schism ; and 
the records and traditions of these would 
have left a mark in time, from and by which 
all men who were disposed to discredit it 
could point to its introduction into the wor- 
ship of Israel. The priests and patriots who 
resisted the introduction of the forgery, and 
the arguments used, and the blood spilled, if 
any, for the old faith, could all be specified ; 
and so the arts, and stratagems, and policy, 
and violences, used to fix the imposition on 
the people, could, in like manner, be plainly 
shown. So that it is self-evident, almost, that 
it was alike impossible to disprove the insti- 
tution after its organization, and to fabricate it 
and impose it upon the church and the people, 
as a fact, if it never were instituted. 



124 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



And so we may say of that prominent 
institution of the Church, known as the Holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass, which is celebrated every 
day, in every place where there is a priest 
and an altar. But of this presently. 

The other institution referred to, and which 
is modern and political, as showing the force 
of institutions to perpetuate a fact, is the anni- 
versary of the Declaration of Independence 
of the United States, on the fourth of July, 
seventeen hundred and seventy-six. If a party 
of men shall arise in the sixteenth century 
subsequent to its institution and perpetual 
commemoration, who shall assert that its an- 
nual celebration, as an institution to com- 
memorate a fact, is a sham and a falsehood, 
what would all the children of America say ? 
Undoubtedly they would point to the unity 
of the tradition and the unbroken current of 
authority, as an all-sufficient monument of the 
fact that it did commemorate the Declaration 
of Independence and the redemption of their 
fathers from colonial vassalage in a. d. 1776: 
that the monument was erected to perpetuate 
a real fact, and not a sham one. The children 
of our country will say to the infidel or heretic 
on that subject: if this be not so, you can 
point to the year, and the president, and the 
administration in which this monument was 



NATURAL REASON. 



125 



erected — in which this institution was organ- 
ized to perpetuate an assumed fact, which was 
not a fact in reality. You can name the very 
impostor who introduced the innovation. You 
can tell us the leading newspapers in which, 
and the leading mass meetings at which, and 
the deliberative assemblies through which, it 
was at first denounced. You can show ns the 
pages of the public history of the country in 
which its falsehood is discussed and proved by 
previous monuments, which this assumed one 
could not displace and disprove ; the previous 
monument standing, this one must be cast 
down as a forgery : all tradition proves that 
no such monument ever was erected to per- 
petuate such a fact. And so the people of the 
United States, in the event that their Declara- 
tion of Independence shall be commemorated 
annually, until the 4th of July, a. d. 3276, 
will know that their fathers did make the 
declaration 1500 years before, as certainly as 
if they had stood in the Continental Congress 
when it was first announced to the world. 

Now let ns apply the commemorative power 
of these two institutions, the Passover and 
the Declaration of our national Independence, 
to the greatest of all institutions under heaven, 
namely, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in 
the infallible Church : its faith and mysteries 



126 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



being an offering of the real body and blood 
of Christ, which is daily made in the daily 
ministrations of every church where there is a 
priest to make the offering and the sacrifice. 
This daily offering is as prominent in the min- 
istration and life of the Church as the cruci- 
fixion is prominent as its foundation. Isow 
suppose it to be a fabrication of some pope, 
bishop, or " crafty priest," or other person, in 
some age remote or near, but subsequent to 
the Apostles, and not one of the traditions 
revealed to them before the commission which 
Jesus Christ commanded them to observe! 
Suppose this ! What then ? When the inno- 
vator came with his innovation, what would 
the universal church have said to the heretical 
innovator, and what concerning the innova- 
tion ? Reason affirrns, without any doubt, that 
every bishop in the world (other than the 
fabricator of the corruption) would have arisen 
up, and, with one accord, would have anathe- 
matized the forgery and have excommunicated 
the author. Priests would have declaimed 
against it, councils would have condemned it, 
the works of controversial theologians would 
have been filled with its exposure, free-thinkers 
and infidel philosophers would have left their 
works full of sparkling ridicule at the violent 
contradictions to human reason the innova- 



NATURAL REASON. 



127 



tion assumed, and finally, how the common 
sense of the world was taken captive by the 
absurdity. And the common histories of na- 
tions would have marked it as a curious era 
of imposition and credulity, and have specially 
noted the fact that the world had never heard 
of such doctrine from the death of Christ 
until the innovator came and succeeded in 
deluding the then entire Church, which the 
Saviour established. Is it not a manifest 
teaching of reason, that if in spite of the faith 
of the Apostles and the teaching of the fathers 
(which is impossible), a new and extraordinary 
faith, of wonderful mysteries, were thus im- 
posed upon the Church, that her history 
would be examined, and the world be filled 
with books, saturated with the rage of the 
contest, which finally overcame "the faith 
once delivered to the saints?" Would not 
folio upon folio, filling closely packed libraries, 
be burdened with the extraordinary contro- 
versy % Any other supposition would certain- 
ly be contradictory to reason. Reason de- 
clares that it is impossible for such a matter 
to occur in the history of the Church and in 
the history of the world, and not leave any 
traces behind of the character which we have 
indicated, as following the fact. No more 
marked miracle is treasured up in the Church's 



128 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



memory than this dead silence of church his- 
tory and world history, would be, if the fact 
be so, that has been stated upon supposition. 
No such miracle has occurred among men, as 
would be this imaginary fact, if it were a 
reality. But all has not yet been indicated 
which proves the want of reason — the contra- 
diction of reason in the supposition : many 
councils of the Church would have been called, 
and the records of their acts would be freight- 
ed with decrees on one side or the other. 
There would have been hundreds of sermons 
and as many hundreds of epistles by the 
fathers, and thousands of pastoral letters, and 
many dying bequests by saints, to mark the 
introduction and establishment of the heresy. 
And all the monuments of history would give 
us the name of the successful impostor, to- 
gether with the names of his chief adherents, 
who destroyed the old and established the new 
faith, as faithfully as they record the names of 
heretics and their heresies from those of the 
first century to those of the nineteenth. Rea- 
son and common sense are as cheerfully, as sol- 
emnly appealed to to vindicate all these things. 
And reason and common sense affirm their 
consistency with themselves. And this being 
so, what is the teaching of reason concerning 
the origin and perpetuity of that institution 



NATURAL REASON. 



129 



in the Church known as the holy sacrifice of 
the mass? It clearly, irresistibly, yes, irre- 
sistibly, teaches the faith of the Church, 
namely, that the holy sacrifice of the mass — 
the eucharistic sacrifice, with all its tremen- 
dous and influential mysteries and graces, is 
an ordinance instituted by the Apostles, in 
obedience to the command of Christ to go and 
teach all nations whatsoever he had com- 
manded them — accompanied by his Word of 
Promise to be with them always, even unto 
the consummation of the world. Reason fur- 
ther teaches that, in the presence of this great 
mystery of the Church, we stand before an 
institution and ministration of the Apostles, 
which Christ revealed unto them to establish 
and to perpetuate to the end of the world. 

Hence reason also teaches that in the pres- 
ence of the revealed fact she has no data, 
no foundation, no experience, no promises, 
whatever, from whence to deduce a conclusion 
that Jesus Christ did not reveal it, and that 
the Apostles did not establish it. And this 
because the matter and the philosophy of a 
revelation are beyond her sphere of operations 
and power ; and, therefore, in deducing a con- 
clusion against it, she would be merely infer- 
ring a fact of reason from her own utter ismo- 
ranee, which is absurd. For reason, from 

9 



130 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ignorance, cannot infer either a truth or a 
reliable principle. This is stated to be not 
only reasonable and in keeping with common 
sense, but it is advanced as unflinching logic, 
which will sustain every revealed dogma 
and observance of the holy Catholic Church, 
against which all the batteries of supposed 
reason have been brought to bear. 

Let this be studied — reflected on, honest- 
ly and candidly considered. Its force in vin- 
dicating a revealed truth will resist every 
shock that can be made upon it by any en- 
dowment of the human mind. There can be 
nothing more mad than for any agent to con- 
clude, from premises which are beyond the 
sphere in which his capacities have any power 
or any means of operation, the rationality or 
irrationality of any principle which should 
govern the conduct or influence the judgment 
of a man of reason and common sense. If a 
reasonable man have a revelation, under these 
circumstances, reason clearly indicates that he 
must be guided by the command the revealed 
fact contains, instead of making his ignorance 
of its sphere and philosophy a rule for dis- 
obedience to its instructions. This, we think, 
is the teaching of reason. 



NATURAL REASON. 



131 



SECTION VII. 

The Province of Keason and the Province of Faith. 

The last section brings us directly to the 
province of reason and the province of faith. 
The clear, simple facts, and the equally clear 
facts of reason it presents, develop the ques- 
tion and propound the demand : What is the 
province of reason and what is the province 
of faith? The answer is certainly prompt 
as to the empire of faith, in a matter of super- 
natural revelation; and that answer is, we 
must believe every fact revealed by God, 
without argument, question, or dispute. When, 
therefore, the Church teaches that natural 
or human reason cannot discredit any fact of 
divine revelation, she does not interfere with 
the rightful province of reason. And when 
she goes further, and instructs her children 
that the obligations which a divine faith im- 
poses upon their lives and consciences, are 
duties from which they cannot escape and 
must implicitly discharge, because they are 
revealed, she neither abolishes nor in any 
manner restrains reason. The lawful opera- 
tions of reason, in her own empire in the soul, 



132 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



are in no wise embarrassed by the Church, 
when she instructs her children and the entire 
world to believe whatever God has revealed 
to her, through the Apostles, and through 
them has commissioned her to teach all nations, 
to the end of the world. Whatever faith she 
was commanded to teach as being contained 
in the apostolic traditions and observances 
committed to her by our blessed Saviour, 
when he said to the Apostles : " All power is 
given unto me in heaven and in eartd. Go 
ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them 
to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you : and lo, I am with you alway, 
even to the end of the world. Amen." 

"Whatever faith the Church was commis- 
sioned to teach, as being the faith and ob- 
servances thus commanded to be taught, she 
may — must — teach, and cannot thereby em- 
barrass the lawful operations of reason in 
her own empire in the soul. This is self- 
evident to the reason of every man who ac- 
knowledges the supernatural power and su- 
preme jurisdiction of the God of the Christian ; 
for God would not command a system of faith 
to be taught to the world which would either 
abolish reason or embarrass its legitimate op- 



NATURAL REASON. 



133 



erations within its own empire. Hence the 
question never is : what does reason compre- 
hend ? but it always is : what were the facts 
contained in the apostolic traditions which 
were commanded to be taught and observed 
to the end of the world ? 

And here let us digress long enough to state 
the time after our blessed Saviour's ascension, 
(the date at which) the several books of the 
New Testament Scriptures were written. St. 
Matthew wrote his gospel about eight years 
after the ascension. St. Mark wrote his about 
ten afterwards. St. Luke wrote his about 
twenty. St. John wrote his about sixty-three. 
The Acts of the Apostles contain an account 
of the first thirty years of the Church, and 
were written by St. Luke about ten years after 
his gospel, or thirty years after the ascension. 
(The council at Jerusalem was held a. d. 51.) 
The Epistle to the Romans was written twen- 
ty-four years after our Lord's ascension. The 
Epistles to the Corinthians was also written 
twenty-four years after his ascension. The 
Epistle to the Galatians was written twenty- 
three years after the ascension. That to the 
Ephesians twenty-nine, that to the Philip- 
pians twenty-nine, that to the Colossians twen- 
ty-nine, and that to the Thessalonians about 
nineteen years after the ascension. The 
12 



134 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



Epistles to Timothy were written about thirty- 
three years, that to Titus about thirty-three 
years, that to Philemon about thirty-one years, 
and that to the Hebrews about twenty-nine 
years after our Lord's ascension. St. James' 
Epistle was written about twenty-eight years, 
St. Peter's Epistles about fifteen years, St 
John's Epistles were written about sixty-six 
years, St. Jude wrote his about thirty-three 
years, and the Apocalypse, or Revelations, was 
written about sixty-four years after our blessed 
Saviour's ascension. It is thus seen that the 
apostolic traditions and observances, that is, 
the entire mass of faith which the Apostles 
were commissioned — commanded to teach, 
was tradition, and preceded the written Scrip- 
tures of the . New Testament from eight to 
sixty-six years. 

To return from this digression, which we 
hope will shed a bright light upon the entire 
matter of this essay, allow us, kind reader, 
to gather up the thread of the argument, 
interrupted by the digression, by repeating 
a sentence preceding it. It is repeated, then : 
" Hence the question never is : what does 
reason comprehend ? but it always is : what 
were the facts contained in the apostolic tra- 
ditions which were commanded to be taught 
and observed to the end of the world ?" And 



NATURAL REASON. 



135 



in the investigation, in the comprehension, in 
the realization, of this question, the respective 
spheres of reason and faith, are as distinct 
from each other as the necessary element to 
sustain the life of a fish is distinct from the 
necessary element to sustain the life of man. 
The sphere of divine faith is in the supernatu- 
ral order, and concerns matters of fact (the 
actual condition of things) in that order, while 
natural reason concerns matters of fact (the 
actual condition of things) in the natural 
order. It is a simple truism of the senses 
to assert the total distinction of the orders. 
The empire of divine faith never encroaches 
(never can) on the domain of natural reason. 
And the rightful empire of reason can never 
reach, can never attain, to the facts or con- 
dition of things which exist in the supernatu- 
ral order ; hence she cannot judge of, nor even 
assume any jurisdiction over, the nature of 
things and the credibility or the incredibility 
of facts which she cannot so much as discover, 
let alone comprehend. To do so would be to 
adopt, as the principle of her conclusions, that 
her ignorance and incapacities authorize her 
to infer facts of reason from both these de- 
ficiencies, which is in the highest degree illogi- 
cal and irrational. Divine faith can never 
encroach upon any rightful province of reason, 



136 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



for this faith is a firm belief in a real rev- 
elation of God. It may, for the purposes of 
this essay, be defined: "A theological vir- 
tue which consists in believing explicitly or 
implicitly all the truths God has revealed, 
without any doubt, on the veracity of God 
alone. It requires absolute certainty, objective, 
as well as subjective. Where there is belief 
without objective evidence, certainly the belief 
is not faith, but mere opinion or persuasion. 
Mere subjective certainty, that is, an inward 
persuasion, even though it should exceed all 
actual doubt, would not be faith, unless war- 
ranted by evidence in which reason can detect 
no deficiency." (Brownson's Essays, p. 21.) 
Reason may be defined to be the actual re- 
lations perceived between the real objects of 
the mind's knowledge and comprehension ; or 
it may be defined to be the power of the 
human mind to institute real comparisons 
between, and to make just deductions from, 
the objects which are actual facts (the true 
condition of things) presented to it, for its 
judgment, in the natural order, that is, within 
its own sphere of existence and operations. 
Beyond this all intelligence tells us she is 
not to be trusted. Every real fact which the 
human mind actually comprehends and fully 
understands, without any mistake, comes with- 



NATURAL REA80N. 



137 



in the sphere of reason ; and when she judges 
the fitness of such fact to the constitution of 
natural things, she may be a proper, if not a 
supreme arbiter. But from the very constitu- 
tion of reason and its organization in the hu- 
man mind, however enlightened or unenlight- 
ened, it cannot be a proper judge of the nature 
and fitness of a divine revelation, to fulfil the 
purposes of God in making it to the intelligent 
objects to whom it is made; much less can 
she conclude against its reality, because of her 
ignorance and incomprehension of the philoso- 
phy of the supernatural. Every revelation is 
a new fact presented to the mind of man, and 
consequently must be an increase (extension) 
of knowledge. This no sane man will deny : 
it is self-evident to reason. How, then, can 
she conclude against the extension of her own 
knowledge as an abolition or abasement of 
her own authority ? Must she do so because 
she cannot reach or comprehend the neces- 
sities and proprieties — the philosophy of the 
divine mind in granting the revelation? It 
has been seen that every revelation to God 
is a mercy to man. Reason, therefore, would 
not only conclude from her own ignorance 
against the truth and against mercy to her 
condition, but also against the extension of 
her own knowledge, by denying the new fact, 
12* 



138 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



"because she could not overcome her own inca- 
pacities and attain to the philosophy of the 
supernatural dispensation. Reason cannot, 
and she ought to know it, be a supreme 
arbiter of either the necessity or the nature of 
a divine revelation, because that revelation, ex 
necessitate rei, is beyond her sphere of action 
and observation. Divine truths are, in one 
sense, at least, revealed to man from necessity, 
which necessity consists in the entire impo- 
tency of reason to discover the facts revealed. 
If reason could explore the territory of the 
supernatural order, and there discover new 
facts and develop them to man, then, indeed, 
she might claim to be a supreme arbiter in 
the matter. But yet the claim might be as 
false as that of the savage, who never saw an 
implement of civilization, except in a visit of 
a few hours to a vast museum, filled with the 
most delicate and complicated astronomical 
instruments, with instruments for the con- 
struction of steam-engines, with instruments 
for raising the Crimean fleet, with instruments 
surgical and dental, who would assume to 
explain to his fellows of the wilderness, after 
his return to his lodge, the nature and uses 
of all his eye had sketched in a few hours 
of observation among civilized men. Hence, 
if natural reason had roamed over the realms 



NATURAL REASON. 



139 



of the supernatural order, for a period of time, 
it is extremely probable that she would have 
come back very illy endowed with capacities 
to explain the philosophy of facts sketched by 
her vision during the visit. It is a thousand 
to one that she would have misconceived and 
grossly misunderstood every thing with which 
she was' brought into contact and communion, 
unless some inhabitant of that supernatural 
order had been commissioned to instruct her. 
And if so, what madness to reject the instruc- 
tion, for any cause. And here let us again 
repeat a frequent repetition, and one that can- 
not be too often repeated, that when reason 
deduces facts of reason from her own igno- 
rance and incapacities, that she not only acts 
against herself, but she plays the part of the 
savage inflated with vanity at the sights he 
has seen, but which left him as ignorant as 
before. In as much as reason is utterly im- 
potent to discover the truths revealed ; that is, 
to make a divine revelation, she has no au- 
thority to make her incapacities articles of 
faith. That human reason cannot institute 
and divulge a divine revelation, is admitted 
to be self-evident; and to suppose, even, the 
contrary, is to imagine a contradiction in 
terms and things, and is an abolition of all 
the canons of reason's action, and is actually 



140 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



to confound and destroy the basis of all knowl- 
edge. The incapacity of reason, then, to in- 
stitute and develop a divine revelation, is 
surely a clear testimony of her inability to 
judge of its fitness in time and place, and the 
necessity and purpose of God in giving it 
the form and substance which he actually 
chose to give it. In what, then, consists the 
supremacy of reason? In crediting the fact 
revealed on the veracity of God alone. She 
is to take no other authority for the truth 
of the revelation. When she has ascertained 
the fact of a supernatural revelation, it is 
her highest duty to yield obedience to all it 
enjoins. Because she cannot comprehend the 
rationale of the form and substance of the 
revealed fact, she cannot, with justice to her- 
self, deny the fact. Other forms and other 
substances might be more in accordance with 
her antecedent opinions and present persuasion 
of what would have impressed the human 
mind to yield the obedience required; yet 
all these preconceptions cannot reasonably 
dispute the fact. That stands against the 
world and all its prejudices, hopes, and logic. 
None of these can annihilate the fact. And 
they all are very fallible to base either a 
propriety or duty of heaven upon. To ques- 
tion the veracity of God because we cannot 



NATURAL REASON. 



141 



fathom and measure what we call the philoso- 
phy of his revelation in the particular form 
and substance by which Jesus Christ gave 
it expression, is usurping authority in the 
supernatural order, and the throne, and power, 
and reason of the most high God himself. 
But this is not an act of reason ; it is one 
of supreme folly and utter madness. We do 
not comprehend how he spoke a world into 
existence, yet this want of comprehension does 
not destroy the fact nor make it contrary 
to reason. It is a reasonable fact, neverthe- 
less, at least in the consciousness of every real 
Christian; and it exists in spite of our in- 
comprehension and our ignorance of its ration- 
ality, and in spite of our inability by any 
possibility to understand and explain it. Rea- 
son cannot explain why it was necessary that 
the door-posts of the Israelites in Egypt, on 
the night all her first-born were smitten with 
death, should be sprinkled with the blood 
of the paschal lamb, in order to the distin- 
guishing of the house of an Israelite from 
the house of an Egyptian, so that the angel 
of God might pass over the one and enter the 
other to slay its eldest born. Yet the fact 
is not unreasonable — contrary to the reason 
of any Jew or Christian. If so, he has denied 
the faith. Reason is entirely incompetent to 



142 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



explain the fact revealed : faith believes it on 
the veracity of God alone. The reason of that 
son of Jacob who, on that night of terror in 
Egypt, had concluded against the fact, would 
have paid the penalty of a dispute with his 
God, who had revealed the truth to Moses, 
and not to all the people. In this, as in all 
other revelations, the Church teaches her chil- 
dren that God reveals simply a fact or system 
of facts, and does not, as her accusers require, 
reveal its reason and common sense. The 
nature and philosophy of the fact is never 
revealed, unless its object or design be taken 
for these. Hence human reason cannot attain 
to these, however vigorously it may exert 
itself. This truth was distinctly stated to 
Moses, and by him announced, as a law to the 
people, when it was said, " The secret things 
belong unto the Lord our God; but those 
things which are revealed belong unto us and 
to our children forever, that we may do all 
the words of this law." (Deut. xxix. 29.) If 
an Israelite had asked Moses why it was ne- 
cessary to sprinkle his door-posts with blood, 
for the discernment of God, who gave the 
command, and had, because the prophet 
could not explain its philosophy, deduced the 
conclusion that the revelation was a human 
invention, and Moses an impostor, such a 



NATURAL REASON. 



143 



one would certainly have exceeded the au- 
thority of reason, and would as certainly have 
paid the penalty of his folly. Inevitable death 
would have been the portion of all the first- 
born of his house. And when the rejectors 
of the faith of the Church deduce like con- 
clusions from like reasons against the mys- 
teries of religion, revealed by Christ to his 
Church, are they not guilty of a like madness, 
instead of performing an act of reason % And 
may they not incur a like penalty for their 
disobedience ? It is thus clearly seen how 
contrary to reason it is to impeach any reve- 
lation, any declaration of a supernatural fact 
by our Saviour to his Apostles, and by them 
taught to the world. 

When the fact is revealed, it is not the prov- 
ince of reason to question its authority, because 
of her incomprehension. Neither ignorance 
nor incomprehension can blot from existence 
any existent fact, however insignificant ; and 
much less can either wipe from the statutes 
of revelation those facts of such infinite import 
as our Saviour revealed to the Apostles and 
commanded them to teach to all the world. 
"Let God be true, but every man a liar," 
is the language of reason as well as of faith. 
All arguments which are constructed upon 
the principles of the accusers of the Church, 



144 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



against the faith she teaches to her children, 
are manifestly as contrary to the substance 
of reason as they are contrary to the substance 
of faith. The principle of these arguments 
is, that whatever reason cannot understand 
and comprehend — analyze and square with 
her capacities — is necessarily untrue. And 
one of the conclusions involved in the prin- 
ciple, and flowing resistlessly from it, is, that 
human reason is a necessary limit upon the 
power of God ; for it assumes that he cannot 
reveal any thing that reason cannot under- 
stand. Either as a fact or as a principle, this 
is false. It is a doctrine which no terms can 
characterize, let alone define. 

It is held by a certain sect of heretics that 
no man of sense can believe a mystery. And 
this in defiance of man's own existence, and 
that of the world, and all its amazing fur- 
niture. Such men ought to explain to us 
the foundations of the earth and the hinges 
upon which the sun revolves. They ought 
to inform us what are the vital forces of our 
own being, and how they impel the blood 
from the heart along the currents of life. If 
God can create such magnificent mysteries 
in the natural world, it is surely against rea- 
son to conclude that he cannot reveal mys- 
teries from the supernatural world. For if 



NATURAL REASON. 



145 



there be a supernatural world, and a God 
and Father of it, he can reveal some of its 
facts, which would necessarily be mysteries. 
Every such argument is absurd, and contra- 
dicts the existence of the plainest natural 
facts. If such be legitimate or reasonable 
arguments, we can disprove the conception 
of the human body in the womb of its mother, 
and the implantation in that body of that 
sublimely mysterious fact we call life, by its 
dictates and canons. Life, that mysterious 
spark of animating energy transplanted from 
heaven, would be effectually demonstrated to 
be a non-existing thing, a falsehood, and not 
a fact, by this mode and principle of argu- 
ment, as a rule for faith and reason. Man's 
reason has stood in the presence of these 
mysteries of conception and life for six thou- 
sand years, and it is still as ignorant of their 
philosophy as it is of the mystery of the 
" real presence " in the holy eucharist. Man 
knows fully as much of this supernatural mys- 
tery, revealed from heaven, as he does of that 
natural revelation, revealed from the womb. 
Faith in neither abases his reason; nor is a 
profound realization that both are facts, in any 
wise contradictory of the reason. The super- 
natural] y revealed fact is above man's reason 
in the supernatural order. The naturally re- 

10 18 



146 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



vealed fact is beyond his reason in the natural 
order. Reason has no right to dispute either 
system of facts with faith. Her duty is to 
bend in respect and reverence before the altar 
of natural truth, and to bow in adoration and 
thanksgiving, subdued pride and awe, before 
the altar of the supernatural truth. Any man 
who would disturb or disbelieve the mysteries 
in nature, to which we allude, on the prin- 
ciple that they are contrary to reason, because 
beyond it, would be deemed insane. The 
very stones would cry out against his mad- 
ness. Every one would respond to his folly 
by an undoubted belief in the natural fact, 
for the reason that no reasoning, no conclu- 
sions of logic could blot it from existence. 
And yet it is on such assumptions and so-called 
arguments as these, that all the sublime mys- 
teries of the Church, all the consolations of 
her faith, so plainly revealed to her by the 
Apostles, are sought to be overthrown and 
excluded from the respect and hospitalities 
of reason. Her accusers ought to mend their 
logic, whether they made their faith or not ; 
or else they should cease their rehearsal against 
the Church, which they have so long prac- 
tised, about her violation of reason and com- 
mon sense. Reason is never more exalted 
than when she stands in the presence of a fact 



NATURAL REASON. 



147 



which she does not comprehend, and confesses 
her fallibility, and averts her face from all 
who would stimulate her incredulity because 
of her ignorance. Whatever supremacy she 
asserts, she founds it on a right totally different 
from that. Her power, she is well aware, is 
not derived from her incapacities. Whenever 
she is ignorant of the revelations to her, pre- 
sented by either the natural or supernatural 
worlds, she joins herself to faith, and they, 
with a strong, indissoluble, matrimonial al- 
liance, adopt the fact into their family of 
knowledge as a child forever, because it is 
revealed. And reason forms this alliance 
without yielding any portion of her imperial 
dignity or any part of her dominions. She 
loses no caste by the union. She is under 
every obligation to form the alliance and 
adopt the fact, without comprehension and 
without understanding, because she may not 
deny a truth, though she understand it not. 

Reason cannot tell us the philosophy of the 
fact with which she is most intimately and 
inseparably associated, and which is of the 
essence of all her power and authority. She 
'cannot explain how the soul is connected with 
the material senses of the body, so as to derive 
the information of external facts from these 
senses. This fact constitutes her own being, 



148 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



and jet what account can she give of its 
philosophy, its rationality? She knows it is 
true, but is utterly powerless, in the presence 
of the truth, to give any rational account 
of the fact. The fact is revealed to her, but 
its mysteries (" secret things ") belong to the 
Lord our God. And these senses, whose tes- 
timonies are deemed so infallible and unim- 
peachable, what have they to say of this in- 
timate and "substantial union," and which 
is their life and their being ? They are totally 
dumb, and cannot respond. The eyes do not 
see it. The nose does not smell it. The 
tongue does not taste it. The hands do not 
touch it. The ears do not hear it. Yet the 
mind and soul know that this " intimate and 
substantial union" exists between the soul and 
the senses, and between the reason and the 
senses, as certainly as the mind and soul 
know that the daily bread, eaten for daily life, 
is a fact and not a my th. The soul and rea- 
son move every moment among these senses, 
and they neither see, feel, taste, touch, or 
smell either. Yet in the face of all this, 
reason, by her matrimonial union with faith, 
has the fullest assurance of her being, and 
the verity of the soul, and the material senses. 
She believes it without any doubt, because 
of her union with faith. Is the child of the 



NATURAL REASON. 



149 



Church, then, who believes his holy Mother, 
when she teaches him that when Jesus Christ 
said " This is my body," eat, it is bread 
broken for you, — is he unreasonable for be- 
lieving his Mother, we ask, when she teaches 
him that the blessed Saviour did not utter 
falsehood, but spoke truth, though he cannot 
cognize the fact by any act of the senses, but 
only by an act of faith? He believes it on 
the veracity of God alone. Is he unreason- 
able for deeming that a sufficient foundation 
for unlimited credence ? The credence reason 
yields to the natural facts, with their inex- 
plicable mysteries, we have first examined, 
robs her not of a single sign of her magnifi- 
cence and power. How does credence to the 
revealed fact destroy her greatness and worth, 
when credence to the natural one does not ? 

But that great fact of man, which moves 
among the senses with such certainty and 
strength, through all his existence on earth, — ■ 
that fact we call life, who hath seen it f 
What is its form, its color? What is the 
substance of that fact we call our life ? Who 
hath eaten, or heard, or handled, or tasted it ? 
We demand of the fortunate person to give 
us the portrait of this fact of amazing mys- 
teries, which reveals to us such myriads of 
phenomena, but keeps its own substantial ex- 

18* 



150 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



istence a " secret thing." It is unapproach- 
able by any of the senses, and yet it is united 
to them all, and lives in and moves among 
them with all its majesty and power. Reason 
never disputes this. She recognizes the fact 
as supreme before all other facts, of which 
faith gives her any knowledge. And the 
senses do not question its existence, because 
neither one can approach its body and cognize 
its substance. And why this undoubted cre- 
dence, which reason and the senses so cordially 
and thoroughly yield to the fact of sub- 
stantial life f Because faith, with rightful 
power, demands belief of the truth, in the 
natural order, upon the veracity of the fact 
alone. Just as in the supernatural order, she 
demands belief on the veracity of God alone. 
And reason, among her high attributes, reck- 
ons none higher than that which justifies the 
claim upon her confidence in either instance. 

I conclude this section by asking the candid 
accuser of the Church if mysteries are not 
to be believed ; and whether incomprehen- 
sible mysteries do not challenge the highest 
sanctions of faith ; and whether reason does 
not affirm, in the purest exertions of her 
strength, and in her noblest attributes and 
loftiest excellency, in her utmost of majesty 
and sublime power, that the grand mysteries 



NATURAL REASON. 



151 



of nature and religion, which faith teaches, 
are not incredible, but are credible ; are not 
contrary to any of her attributes, but in union 
and harmony with them all. 



SECTION VIII. 
Reason not the Standard oe Rule of Divine Faith. 

We think it now appears that reason and 
faith may exert their highest powers, con- 
jointly, in their respective spheres; and that 
their supremacy is never seen to better ad- 
vantage than when thus uniting themselves 
to superinduce verity to real facts. If this 
does now appear, then the matter of this sec- 
tion might, at first sight, seem to be a work 
of supererogation. But as this subject, in 
the minds of the accusers of the Church and 
in infidel creeds, has fallen into almost in- 
extricable confusion, we deem it proper to 
make a distinct and specific effort for its dis- 
entanglement. 

Eeason, then, the Church tells her children, 
is not a standard of divine faith. It is not 
such, because reason is and always has been 
fallible. And a fallible standard for the in- 
terpretation of an infallible rule is an ab- 



152 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



surdity. Such a rule must be interpreted 
according to its nature, and every deduction 
from it must be like itself ; that is, perfectly 
free from all error. Every application of the 
rule must also be like itself, and therefore 
perfectly free from any mixture of error. Any 
one can see that these propositions are neces- 
sarily true, and perfectly self-evident ; for if 
it were allowable to deduce error and false- 
hood from an infallible rule, or if it were 
allowable to make an erroneous and false 
application of it, then the rule is destroyed, 
with all its necessities and philosophy, what- 
ever they were. 

[Reason is as various as the countenances 
and habits of men. In the vulgar and un- 
educated it is of one general cast, but of in- 
numerable varieties. In the educated it is 
of another general cast, but as various as the 
teachers and mode of teaching by which they 
were schooled. Every pursuit of life gives 
a tinge, a decided tendency to reason and 
thought. Every habit, of every character, 
colors and discolors reason. Now, divine faith 
is infallible, and to make fallible reason the 
judge of the fitness of the infallible, in the 
economy of divine grace and revelation, is 
surely not an act of reason ; it is an act which 
outrages all reason, all correct habitudes of 



NATURAL REASON. 



153 



thought ; and it is an act, the direct tendency 
of which is to destroy all pure morality and 
faith. And this direct tendency must, sooner 
or later, develop its fearful and final results ; 
it cannot forever cover up its poisonous in- 
fluences so as to prevent its destructive effects 
and consequences. Hence, to erect fallible 
reason into a supreme pontiff, in matters of 
divine faith, is to unsettle all credence in 
divine things. If reason be the standard of 
divine faith, — the constitution of what is cred- 
ible in divine revelation, — whose reason is 
created the pontiff? We must have a stand- 
ard; whether it be good or bad, is another 
question. Whose reason, then, is the standard 
of divine faith? The devout Catholic must 
bear with the shocking nature of this question, 
because we are vindicating his holy Mother 
from aspersions, which makes it necessary for 
the accusations against her to be put in as 
glaring a light as their absurdity will allow, 
without blasphemy. What man's reason, then, 
is to be the standard of divine faith? Is it 
to be the reason of the untutored and illiterate 
peasant, or that of the gifted but pervei'ted 
infidel philosopher? Is it to be the reason 
of the impudent and arrogant skeptic, or that 
of the able but dishonest and scheming poli- 
tician ? Is it to be the reason of the thorough 



154 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



scholar and sound moral philosopher, or that 
of the pedant and pretentious fool ? Is it to 
be a pagan philosopher from Greece, or a 
pagan statesman from Rome ? Or is it the 
reason of a canting, pharisaical Christian, who 
makes a pecuniary speculation out of his 
hypocrisy, who is to furnish the standard by 
which the credibility of a divine revelation 
is to be tested, and by which it is to be dis- 
credited for not squaring with the measure 
any of these may apply to its sacred truths ? 
ISTo greater wrong has been done to Chris- 
tianity and the souls of men, than the elevation 
of human reason into a supreme arbiter of 
divine faith. The madness of its insanity, 
it would seem, ought to frighten all who make 
a pontiff of reason to be the high priest of 
their idolatry. For it is rank and palpable 
idolatry to make human reason — confessedly 
fallible — the supreme authority in matters of 
divine faith. 

Faith is the universal enlightener of reason. 
She extends to reason all the knowledge she 
acquires. If this be not so, what mean teach- 
ers, and histories, and educational institutions? 
These acquire their credibility and authority 
alone through faith. The unaccredited teacher 
and the discredited history teach us nothing : 
they are far from being instructors of reason. 



NATURAL REASON. 



155 



There is a clear distinction, in the organization 
of the human mind, between a fact, or the 
power which is the recipient of facts, and 
ratiocination, or reason. This distinction is 
universally perceived and everywhere ac- 
knowledged by cultivated minds. And it is 
wholly immaterial what definition any meta- 
physician may give to reason, provided he 
does not extend it into the province of faith ; 
for otherwise he cannot make a definition 
but it will exhibit this fundamental distinction 
in the organization of the so-called faculties 
of the human soul. It makes no difference 
what hard and extensive duty any one puts 
upon reason, he cannot destroy this distinction, 
without, to the same extent, destroying the 
simple and natural constitution of faith. The 
plain obligation of faith is to take cognizance 
of real facts as existing truths. But every 
existing fact involves within itself other truths 
which may or may not be deduced from it 
by an act of reason. And when correctly 
deduced, without any mistake, the inference 
may be aptly styled a fact of reason. This 
process, by which facts of reason are per- 
ceived, is named either induction, deduction, 
ratiocination, or reasoning. It is, however, a 
matter of pure indifference what name we give 
it, if we so clearly comprehend the nature 



156 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



of the action as to distinguish it from every 
other act which may intermingle with its 
operations. Reason, then, as is plainly per- 
ceived, is dependent upon faith, in the spir- 
itual order, for every act she performs. Di- 
vine faith is a fact believed on the veracity 
of God alone ; and to this end, before a fact 
can be believed as of divine faith, the testi- 
mony in the case must exclude all human 
opinion, and all the delusions which could, 
by any means, circumvent the human mind 
to give credence to something as the Word 
of God which was not his Word. Faith is 
therefore the fundamentum or substratum of 
reason ; she is that upon which reason erects 
all her works in both the natural and super- 
natural orders. Hence reason can never claim 
supremacy over faith without inverting the 
real order of nature in the mental constitu- 
tion. She cannot obliterate any fact really 
perceived by faith — let her do her best. She 
may correct her facts of reason, when her 
fallibility has led her into error, but she can 
never destroy a truth, however heartily she 
may discredit it. 

The province of reason is in the natural 
order, and her power of comprehension is very 
limited even in this. She comprehends the 
substance or ultimate condition of nothing 



NATURAL REASON. 



157 



of which faith gives her notice as an existing 
fact, from the sun to the fire-fly, from the oak 
to the blade of grass, from the mountain to 
the grain of sand. She can no more tell us 
the final, ultimate conditions upon which a 
grain of sand depends for its manifest exist- 
ence, than chemistry can detect the substance 
of light and develop the materials which give 
it its indescribable form. Let reason, with 
all the appliances of science (which is the 
magazine of all her facts), exert her skill to 
give us the substance and form of light, when 
the fact, with all its phenomena, illuminates 
her dwelling-place, and she cannot do it. 
She cannot give us its portrait — her daguer- 
reotypes cannot transcribe it. It stands alone 
a fact, unique, indefinable, indescribable, and 
forever unapproachable to the subtle tests of 
reason, in her pride of genius and power. 
And this, too, is a fact in her own order. 
But the province of faith is in both orders : 
the natural and the supernatural. Her power 
of assurance is complete in both. 

The native of the United States of America, 
who has never been beyond the soil of his 
birth, is as fully assured of the existence of 
London or Paris as is the Queen of Great 
Britain or the Emperor of France. He is as 
certain of the existence of Rome and St. 

14 



158 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



Petersburg as is the Pope of the one or the 
Emperor of Russia of the other. He is no 
more mistaken as to the fact of the pyramids 
than were the very Egyptians who reared 
them to their completion. Eaith gives knowl- 
edge to reason in the natural order. This is 
now too clear for question. And in the super- 
natural order, in the spiritual order, she must 
do so, if there be any spiritual or supernatural 
order. St. Paul no more doubted the divin- 
ity and authority of Jesus Christ than the 
original Apostles ; nor Titus, than he. St. 
Ignatius, St. Polycarp, and St. Irenaeus, and 
those in communion with them, no more 
doubted it than did St. Paul or any minister 
of the Church who was contemporary with 
him. St. Basil, St. Augustine, and St. Chrys- 
ostom, three hundred years after the martyr- 
dom of St. Paul, knew the fact as well as he 
did, with all the assurance that he had. And 
the thousand of thousands of Christian mar- 
tyrs, who have since attested their knowledge, 
knew the same with all the assurance of Basil, 
Augustine, and Chrysostom. The reasoning 
powers, too, be it always noted, of these three 
fathers, were perfectly free and equal to that 
of any man, of auy name, who has lived since 
they died. Faith did not abase their reason 
nor tend to extinguish its magnificent light. 



NATURAL REASON. 



159 



There lias been no age of the world in 
which they might have lived, but would have 
made them its boast. If the Church and 
her children have any chief glory outside of 
their faith — that sacred deposit of apostolic 
traditions committed to the keeping of the 
Church — it is that the unfettered reason of 
such men, in its pride of strength, bowed in 
humble submission and adoration to the teach- 
ings of faith which their holy Mother, the 
spouse of Christ, imparted to their under- 
standings. On what assurance did these, and 
their predecessors, — generally, almost univer- 
sally, pagans, — know the truths of revealed 
religion? On what assurance did the most 
gifted men in classic Greece and Home, of 
the world, and all time, give up their pagan- 
ism and become the children of the Catholic 
Church? On the evidence of faith — on that 
faith which assures us that the pyramids, 
Rome, London, Paris, St. Petersburg, are facts, 
and not delusive fabrications. And why not 
we, as well as they? Let some advocate of 
reason's supremacy over faith, some accuser 
of the Church, tell us why — " give us a rea- 
son." We have, in addition to what they 
had, the accumulated miracles of fifteen cen- 
turies to fortify our faith ; and certainly, there- 
fore, cannot have less assurance than they had. 



160 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



But we have a higher authority than any 
yet given for the statement that reason is not 
the standard of divine faith : in the spiritual 
order, antecedent to divine revelation, at least, 
there was no standard of reason itself. Rea- 
son had no information and no standard by 
which to measure a fact of reason in the 
supernatural order, before divine revelation. 
And we affirm she has none yet, since divine 
faith or revelation. But the former proposi- 
tion cannot be disputed, and we therefore 
make it the foundation proposition. Reason, 
then, anterior to divine faith, had no standard 
for herself in the supernatural order by which 
she could measure any fact, whether it were 
a simple fact or a fact of reason. She had 
no criterion by which to ascertain — to measure 
— the credibility of any fact existing in the 
supernatural order. What was her condition 
at the instant of the revelation? Did she 
suddenly become endowed with a new capaci- 
ty to judge of the right sort of facts, and the 
real form of facts, which were true in the 
supernatural world, so as to distinguish these 
from fabrications in that order ? One would 
naturally conclude that one fact revealed from 
that order would be as credible as another 
to reason, which did not tend to destroy her 
physical constitution, if it may be so called. 



NATURAL REASON. 



161 



That Jesus Christ was God, is as credible to 
reason as any other fact which may have been 
revealed, and as credible as any revelation 
at all. 

Keason had no standard of God — she had 
no measure of his character, antecedent to 
revelation. Having no standard, no criterion 
or measure of the character of God, and the 
nature of his existence, she could not assume 
to judge of the reasonableness or unreason- 
ableness of his own revelation of himself. 
These things seem so self-evident to reason 
that it is amazing how any liege subject of 
her majesty ever fell into so marked a de- 
lusion, as to claim, on her authority, to set 
aside a divine revelation as a duty which he 
owed to her government. The attestations of 
faith in this matter are only grounds (reasons) 
for belief. Whoever denies this, necessarily 
denies all divine revelation from the super- 
natural order. There can be no standard of 
divine faith but a divine standard, which is 
the very measure and testimony the Divine 
Revealer established as a witness — a teacher 
and perpetuater of his revelation. "No other 
can measure its nature, its necessity, and use- 
fulness. Natural reason, human reason, if 
y<>u prefer the phrase, has demonstrated her 

incapacity to measure a divine revelation, so 
11 u» 



162 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



far as demonstration can be had apart from 
mathematical operations. Human reason can- 
not be a standard of divine faith, in the 
nature of things, for the simple reason that 
there is no standard of human reason itself. 
But grant it were a possible or even imaginable 
thing to obtain, in time and space, a reason 
that would be a standard of divine faith for 
all men, for all time ! Grant the possibility 
or imagination of the fact : what then ? Then 
comes, of course, the inquiry, who was the 
fortunate possessor of this rare reason, a stand- 
ard of divine faith by which all revelations 
from the supernatural world should be meas- 
ured, and to which they all should fit, or be 
adjudged unreasonable? Who was the man 
endowed with this reason ? We are now pro- 
ceeding upon the supposition that the reason 
of the man Jesus Christ is excluded from the 
consideration, as it is alleged his revelation 
to his Church does not conform to the stand- 
ard we combat. Where did this man, so 
extraordinarily gifted, live ? Among the 
Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, or the 
Goths ? What history tells us of this prodigy 
of nature's creation and nurture, who was so 
perfectly in the image of the eternal God, 
as thus to be the voice of God to all men, 
in all ages, even unto the consummation of 



NATURAL REASON. 



163 



tlie world ? Are there any statues or monu- 
ments to his memory, or any institutions at- 
testing his powers? Surely so remarkable a 
man, not the least noted characteristic of 
whom is that he assumes to impeach the 
veracity of the Son of God, and to declaim 
agaiust his revelation of "The Father," — we 
say, surely so remarkable a personage would 
have left some institution as a monument of 
his ministry, even if his fellows had not erect- 
ed any marble columns or temples to his 
memory. But if they failed iu this, then we 
ask, if he were a Greek, Egyptian, Roman, 
Goth, or Jew ? In what age of the government 
in which he lived was he born ? Who were 
its rulers or princes during his natural life? 
The supposition that such a man ever lived 
is supremely absurd — is degrading to reason. 

But the accusers of the Church and advo- 
cates of the supremacy of reason over divine 
faith may say, Your limitation for the standard 
is too confined — we ought not to be limited 
to a single individual in our search for a 
standard. We have always supposed that 
there was a vague idea among the Church's 
accusers that every individual reason could 
rightly, for itself, impugn the faith the Church 
teaches her children. This fallacy is the mul- 
tiplied result of all the fallacies we expose 



164 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



on this point. It is plainly seen to be in- 
cluded in them all. But we will even waive 
all this, as indeed we had before done. We 
will take a whole nation, then, for your 
selection, and govern ourselves in the argu- 
ment by the entire aggregate of her reason. 
Which, then, is the nation of men who are 
the arbiters — the standards of divine faith? 
Is it to be found in Asia, Africa, America, 
or Europe? If in Africa, is it a pure Negro 
tribe, or the more refined Egyptian? If in 
Europe, is it classic but pagan Greece, or the 
besotted Goth? If in America, which of all 
her aboriginal tribes is the standard of rea- 
son, and therefore the rule of divine faith? 
Who among the Asiatic races gives divine 
faith to the world in their type and order 
of reason ? This is no less supreme folly than 
the other supposition of a single reason, which 
was to be the standard of faith for the world. 
But it is probable that the accuser of the 
Church, who advocates the supremacy of rea- 
son over the divine faith she has always 
taught, is so wedded to his opinion that he 
will not yet give it up ; and he therefore shifts 
his position, and assumes that the aggregated 
reason of all men is the standard. This may 
seem to those who reproach the Church for 
her teaching to her children, as an unanswer- 



NATURAL REASON. 



165 



able and irrefutable dogma of divine faith. 
But we entreat them to remember what we 
are doing — we are discussing with them their 
accusations against the Church, which allege 
that she teaches her children a faith that 
abolishes — contradicts reason, experience, and 
common sense. In this discussion, of course, 
they will not be tolerated in assuming dogmas 
of faith, for the salvation of the world, which 
plainly violate natural reason and also reveal 
a physical impossibility, to be overcome by 
the sincere inquirer, who asks what he shall 
do to be saved. 

Let us look at this, — the dogma which tells 
him to consult the aggregate of human rea- 
son. There is a slight difficulty in ascer- 
taining what is the sum of this reason. The 
exact result of African, Asian, American, 
and European reason, in solido, with all their 
various tribes, and races, and languages, is 
not a little difficult to arrive at. Reason will 
have some serious doubts whether she has 
gotten the exact truth, when she solves the 
problem : when she does ! But this difficulty 
gotten over, there is one still more serious 
to surmount. At what age of the world will 
we select this aggregate of men as the stand- 
ard of divine faith to be taught to all nations, 
even unto the consummation of the world? 



166 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



This is a very serious question, upon the sup- 
position that the accusers of the Church are 
serious. What fact shall induce us to select 
the entire race of man in any one age in 
preference to the entire race of man in any- 
other age ? Each generation of men that has 
lived will demand, with a clamor which can- 
not be equalled, that its lifetime be selected 
as the "age of reason," which is to give divine 
faith a standard of divine truth, to be taught 
to all nations, and to the end of time. And 
each generation will have a perfect right to 
" judge for itself," for the simple reason that 
there can, during its existence, be no judg- 
ment to oppose to its own. 

This dogma approaches to, if it does not 
reach, the conclusion that every generation 
of men must be faith-makers — must make a 
divine faith for itself. But waive this, and 
let it be conceded that the reason of some 
one generation must furnish the rule of divine 
faith, to be thenceforth taught forever. In 
which, then, of all the generations of men, 
since the crucifixion of the blessed Redeemer, 
will the accusers of the Church, the advocates 
of reason's supremacy, select the aggregate 
of reason which is to be from thence the 
standard — the supreme arbiter of divine faith? 
"Which of these generations is to furnish the 



NATURAL REASON. 



167 



standard of reason which is to judge what 
is credible and what incredible as a system 
of divinely revealed truth and ministrations ? 
If the devont Catholic is to abandon his faith, 
as against reason, it would be a very interest- 
ing fact for him to know exactly which among 
all the past generations of men, in their ag- 
gregate of reason, had the standard of this 
faculty, by which divine faith is to be judged 
credible or incredible. There is no affection- 
ate child of the Church who would consent 
to be ravished from his Mother, by a teacher 
of reason's supremacy, unless he could have 
a foundation in reason for his hope of eternal 
happiness, as solid and as sure as that which 
he now has in that anchor of safety for his soul, 
in the deposit of faith in those apostolic tradi- 
tions and observances which he knows — knows 
better than he knows that London, Paris, 
Rome, St. Petersburg, the Pyramids, are facts 
— the blessed Jesus Christ commissioned his 
Mother, the holy Apostolic Catholic Church, 
to teach all men, to the end of the world. 
Before the devout Catholic can be induced 
to abandon a faith so deposited and so taught, 
for the aggregate reason of any one named 
generation of men who have lived since the 
crucifixion, to be selected even by himself, 
he must be sure that the Apostles mistook 



168 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



their commission and did not understand the 
traditions committed to their keeping. He 
must be satisfied, also, that though the ori- 
ginal Apostles, and their successors for a short 
time, kept the faith delivered to them, and 
thus, so far, made true the promise of their 
divine Master, yet that in some after age 
there did arise successors to the Apostles who 
did corrupt and finally lose the original de- 
posit of divine faith, and so, in their turn, 
did make void the promise and word of their 
divine Master to be with them always, to the 
end of the world. 

We think, in the conclusion of this section, 
we may appeal to the candor and good sense 
of any accuser of the Church, however bitter 
his animosity against her, to say whether any 
child of hers would do an act of reason or 
one of dangerous folly, by abandoning his 
faith for the aggregated reason of any age 
of men. And we do confidently, in all sin- 
cere regard for all of the reproachers of our 
holy Mother's faith, make the appeal. 



NATURAL REASON. 



169 



SECTION IX. 

Human Experience not the Standard or Rule of 
Divine Faith. 

Those who accuse the Church of infringing 
upon the teachings of their experience and 
the teachings of human experience in general, 
have never considered the charge which they 
so confidently make against her. They have 
never unfolded the nature of the accusation. 
Never, for one - moment, have they analyzed 
it in the light of any knowledge, or of any 
science with which the human understanding 
is or may be endowed. If they had investi- 
gated their allegation just so long as it would 
take to raise the veil from over it, which 
screened it from the dust and flies, they would 
at once have perceived the grossness of the 
fallacy in their logic, and the irrationality 
of the principle in their reasoning. Now 
what is the import of the accusation ? What 
does it mean? What is its language as a 
response — a reply to a divine revelation ? It 
is simply and nakedly this, and can be nothing 
else : it is a declaration to God, that whatever 
he reveals to man from the supernatural order 

15 



170 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



must be a matter of human experience : and 
if the matter of the divine revelation has not 
been (therefore, of course) a matter of human 
experience, then the revelation is false, because 
it is contrary to human experience. Now 
can any cultivated mind, among the accusers 
of the holy Church, face this proposition in 
its unfolded reality and its native nakedness ? 
And if he cannot, can he show any fallacy 
in our statement of the case. We are con- 
fident this is impossible. And we must mis- 
take the general candor and sincerity of the 
accusers of the Church, if they do not aban- 
don hereafter the accusation against her which 
we are now discussing. And when this shall 
be abandoned, we have the highest and most 
joyous hopes for the Church's prosperity ; for 
we Jcnow that no dogma of delusion, so to 
speak, has ever more misled men of sense, 
genius, and fearless candor, than this same 
allegation, that the Church teaches a faith to 
her children which is contrary to all experi- 
ence. But human experience is not the stand- 
ard of divine faith, even if the accusation were 
true. If experience were the standard of 
faith, it would be a matter of infinite im- 
portance to ascertain whose experience must 
be the standard of divine faith. It would 
seem to be a conclusion of reason, at least, 



NATURAL REASON. 



171 



that there is or has been some one personage 
in the world whose experience in his own age 
is or was superior to that of all other men. 
Who is he? Who was he? And it would 
further seem a necessary act of reason to 
declare that there has been some nation or 
tribe of people which can boast of giving 
birth and education to this gifted man, whose 
experience was or is so infinite as to be the 
yoice of God in determining upon what was 
divinely revealed, as a fact, and to pronounce 
as false fabrications, and unworthy of God, 
all assumed revelations that were not in ac- 
cordance with the limitless experience of this 
man of infinite power. ISTo nation or tribe, 
so far as we know, claims for its own so 
wonderful a person. But if the claim had 
ever been made, we would surely have seen 
a contest among trie nations for the paternity 
of this coequal with divinity. Heroic Rome 
would have controverted it with classic Greece ; 
Persia with Assyria ; Africa with Europe ; 
and Asia with America; and each empire 
and kingdom with all of the others. And 
every tribe of every empire would have con- 
tested the honor with every other among its 
own people, and with the entire world. In 
fact, each family of earth would have con- 
tested it with every other family. And the 



172 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



claim would, from the very nature of ex- 
perience, have to be made for a contem- 
poraneous, living man, existing in the gen- 
eration of men asserting the claim. So that 
every generation of men would have to as- 
certain who among themselves was this pe- 
culiar coequal or Son of God, the experience 
of whom was to be a rule of divine faith 
forever. Forever, no ! not forever. For the 
rule could only be for the generation living 
and contemporaneous with this supreme ar- 
biter of divine faith. Mark the fact: and 
it is necessarily true, it cannot be otherwise. 
And the reason why it is necessarily true 
is perfectly obvious; and is because, if ever 
any one went behind his own generation 
into the past generations of men, to obtain 
such a personage, that moment the rule of 
experience would be destroyed, and the rule 
of faith substituted in its stead. Necessarily 
so. For no man, in any one age of men, 
knows any thing, by experience, of any past 
age of men. All he knows of the past he 
learns by the teachings of others. It is a 
remarkable fact that a rule of faith so plainly 
absurd as this dogma of experience, and one 
so immediately destructive of itself, should 
have ever been enunciated in an age of in- 
telligence and thought. But it is still more 



NATURAL REASON. 



173 



wonderful, it is amazing beyond measure, 
how any man of respectable cultivation was 
ever deluded by its assertion. Perhaps no 
one feels so keenly and vividly the wonderful 
delusion of this and similar dogmas of de- 
lusion, as the convert from heresy to catho- 
licity. When his eyes are opened, and the 
scales of delusion fall from them, he is as- 
tounded that • such deceptive dogmas should 
ever have obscured his mental vision for a 
moment. He cannot realize how it was so, 
thongh he has "experienced" the fact. 

But to the subject : experience is but for a 
lifetime — no more. All that comes to us 
from the past is of faith ; not of experience. 
Life is a series of experiences, each in suc- 
cession either totally of partially despoiling 
its predecessor of glory and magnificence. 
Experience is fallible ; it sometimes, nay, very 
often, judges that a fact which is not a fact. 
And as it is but for a lifetime, if it were 
the standard of divine faith, it wonld disprove 
all revelation antecedent to its own birth ; 
and it must discredit all revelation subsequent 
to its birth, nnless made directly to itself. 
For if it credited any before its own time, 
or in its own time, and not so made to itself, 
such credit would be an act of faith, and 
would destroy the rule of experience which 

15* 



174: 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



is set up as a standard of divine revelation. 
This is inevitable, unless those who affirm 
the rule, by their accusation against the 
Church, cast down experience when it suits 
them, and set up faith when it suits them. 
A rule of faith which would thus wipe out 
all antecedent revelation, together with all 
antecedent natural facts, with all contempo- 
raneous natural and revealed facts not re- 
vealed to its presence, is rather too sweeping 
a measure for the use of either a professor 
of reason or Christianity. Neither could at- 
tend to the business of daily life one day 
if he were compelled to apply the rule of 
experience to every act he came to perform. 
This rule blots out all history, and its teach- 
ings as incredible assertions. All the facts in 
time which have preceded us are falsified by 
this rule. And if it be a standard of divine 
faith, or even of the truth of human action and 
modes of existence, we can prove by it that 
there were no human or other existences an- 
tecedent to the oldest man in the world : and 
so prove that this generation is its own cre- 
ator. But this is not a fraction of the ab- 
surdity of this accusation against the Church. 
Her accusers set up a standard of divine faith 
that is irrational beyond all courteous at- 
tempts at characterization. For experience 



NATURAL REASON. 



175 



is necessarily limited to human life. Having 
no experience before our own birth, we are, 
by this rule of divine faith, forever excluded 
from acquiring any experience at all ; inas- 
much as every new fact would be discredited 
by the rule. So that during our entire lives 
we would be discrediting every fact presented 
to us, because we had no experience of it 
when we were first introduced to its existence. 
Thus we would die exactly in the condition, 
as to knowledge, in which we were born, 
under this rule of divine faith. The first fact 
presented to us after our birth would be a 
new fact, and hence, under the rule, must 
be discredited for want of conformity to, and 
agreement with, our experience; and so on 
for each successive fact so presented, and thus 
we would live and die discrediting all facts, 
both natural and supernatural. Where then 
would be reason ? Upon what matter would 
she operate ? The rule is simply an impossible 
absurdity, if any thing can be at once impos- 
sible and absurd. The accusers of the Church 
who make their experience the standard of 
divine faith, have not reflected how deficient in 
universality, how uncatholic, in other words, 
experience is, both in time and space. Per- 
haps no one of the acts of the mind and its 
operations is so feeble and limited as experi- 



176 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ence. If any man will take the trouble to 
consider how much of his knowledge he has 
acquired by faith, and what portion of it he has 
acquired by experience, he will see the plain 
truth and remarkable force of the statement. 
Our experience consists of deductions from 
the very limited number of facts which we 
know by actual contact or observation. The 
knowledge we acquire through faith we obtain 
from teachers, from science, from history, and 
from revelation. The knowledge we get from 
reason comprises those facts which we obtain 
through faith and by experience. The mode 
our reason acquires her facts is characterized 
as induction, ratiocination, deduction, reason- 
ing. But its name is an indifferent thing. 
The fact, and the nature of the operation by 
which the fact is developed, are what we are 
to be careful concerning, not the name by 
which we designate the fact and the act. 

JSTow, what we are taught by our instructors 
from birth, what we know from history or 
tradition (for history is only written tradition), 
and what we know from science, is, beyond 
all comparison, more than what we know from 
experience and reason united ; unless these 
very teachings of faith just referred to be 
called experience, which they cannot be, with- 
out the most deceptive sort of misnaming. 



NATURAL REASON. 



177 



Faith, from the nature of things, is our great 
teacher. It is the foundation of all knowl- 
edge. ]STo knowledge of truth can be had 
except upon real facts, believed to be true. 
By experience we could never know there 
was such a state as Egypt and such a prophet 
as Moses. From it we could know nothing 
of Greece and Rome, except what the sight 
of a visit might inform us. Their past glories 
would be a myth, if we had no teacher but 
experience. Adam and Eve, the Virgin Moth- 
er, Jesus Christ, the resurrection, and heaven, 
would all be unknown if we had no other 
teacher. And the man whose father and 
mother died before he was six months old, 
could not know, by experience, that he ever 
had any ancestors. Indeed, upon a rigid ex- 
amination of the capacities of experience, it 
will be found that she cannot teach a man 
that he was born at all, or that he had any 
ancestors at all. Birth, it is true, is experi- 
enced in a certain sense, but not in the sense 
of teaching, or knowledge, or information 
being involved in the fact. Birth is a fact 
with which experience comes in contact, but 
which, from the conditions attending it, she 
has no power to teach, and no faculty of 
attesting, as a witness, at any future time. 

Our birth is a thing which is taught to us 
12 



178 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



by faith, as also by reason; but experience, 
though in contact with it, is incapable of 
teaching it. We invoke a careful consider- 
ation of this fact from any manly, sincere 
accuser of the Church, because she teaches 
her children that experience is not a rule of 
divine faith. Why, all the past history of 
the world, which is about all we know, and 
is, at least, the certain foundation of all, would 
be lost to us as fabulous and false if we are 
to regulate our faith by the standard of in- 
dividual experience. Our experience — grant- 
ing the rule would let us acquire any — is so 
exceedingly small in time and space, that if 
man had no other teacher he would always 
be an imbecile savage. Hence we see that 
faith is at once the teacher and civilizer of 
man. To it man owes all his boasted progress. 
And he who would create an inextinguish- 
able war between faith and reason and ex- 
perience — in which the first must yield to the 
rigid control of both or either of the last, 
and in which these exert perpetual supremacy 
over faith, — whoever would create such a 
war little understands the lasting injury he 
would inflict on man, if his designs were ac- 
complished. But when these faculties (oper- 
ations') of the human mind are justly consider- 
ed, in their true relations to each other, it is 



NATURAL REASON. 



179 



impossible that any contest can arise among 
them for supremacy. Each has its sphere of 
operations in which it is absolute; bnt this 
sphere of either can never encroach upon the 
other. To believe that it can, is to unmake 
man, and prove that God is not the Author 
of his faculties. When experience is set up as 
a standard of faith she is a manifest usurper. 
She usurps a power of which she is totally 
ignorant, and one which she has no endow- 
ment to exercise. We know that London is, 
and that the Pyramids are; that the Egypt 
of the Pharaohs, that Greece and Rome were, 
with as absolute certainty as we know that 
we live. But we have not this knowledge 
by experience : faith taught it to us. Reason 
and experience, both together, are utterly 
powerless to teach us these facts, and the mil- 
lions of other facts taught to us by faith, 
which we call knowledge. And when faith 
was teaching us our knowledge which we 
have derived from her, she never for a single 
instant of time, for any single purpose, exerted 
any supremacy to which she was not fully 
entitled, and which was not, in a spirit of 
triumph, yielded to her as her own infallible 
right, by reason and experience. The empire 
of these was not invaded by the supremacy 
exercised by faith over the entire soul in her 



180 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



teaching. Faith herself did not more rejoice 
in her authority and acquisitions through it, 
and in the supremacy she held among them, 
than did her younger relatives, experience 
and reason. As experience is the knowledge 
of truths we have ourselves observed, and as 
faith is the knowledge of truths we derive 
from information of some kind ; and as the 
former sort of truths is very limited in num- 
ber, and in time as well as in space, — it is 
hence manifest that experience cannot be the 
standard of faith. If it were, mankind never 
could have acquired any knowledge, as has 
been so certainly shown, but he would have 
been a perpetual, irredeemable infant. From 
generation to generation he would have been 
the same. Reason teaches us this, if she is 
to be trusted ; and she undoubtedly is, within 
the sphere of her own operation and authority 
— when she is rightly interrogated. It is thus 
seen, in the clearest manner, from a variety 
of considerations, that experience is not the 
standard of any faith ; because, if it were, man 
never could learn any new fact, nor any fact 
at all, without an abolition of the standard 
of credence by which he is to be taught. 

At least it may be set down as in the 
highest degree probable that he never could 
learn any fact whatever, without the aid of 



NATURAL REASON. 



181 



faith. But suppose reason, without the aid 
of faith, could discover some facts, it is very- 
certain that, under the dogma of experience, 
she would discredit each one of them in suc- 
cession, as fast as reason discovered them, 
if she is to be the standard of credibility. 
Because she never had observed or realized 
them, because they would be novelties to her, 
she would pronounce every discovery of truth 
by reason, an invention of a fact which was 
not a fact, for the reason of a want of con- 
formity to her knowledge, and as against her 
authority, which is, her anterior realization 
or observance. An ornithologist, for instance, 
who might discover a new species of birds 
before unknown in that science, would be dis- 
credited by every other ornithologist, because 
the fact which he exhibits to the eye-sight 
(the new species of birds) had never been 
observed in all time before. In the same 
manner you might discredit the botanist who 
would discover a new plant or flower. And 
in the same mode the discoveries of Newton, 
and Fulton, and Morse, would be proved 
palpable untruths. Surely that criterion of 
faith which discredits a patent fact, simple 
in itself, and obvious to sense, even, where 
delusion is impossible, is not the standard 
of belief upon which man is to stake his 

16 



182 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



eternal destiny, or any other interest he es- 
teems of any value. But there is another 
specification against this standard of faith : 
in the natural order it would strike down, 
with an eternal paralysis, that thing which 
mankind call their progress. How could man 
progress if none of the avenues to the experi- 
ence of other men and former generations 
were left open to his own experience and 
faith ? Progression, under such a state of 
things, cannot be imagined as possible. It 
is a contradiction in terms, and an impos- 
sibility in the nature of things, to give any 
credence to the possibility. At every at- 
tempted progression all the contemporaries 
of him who produced the new fact, to contri- 
bute to the progressiveness of the race, would 
put him down as an impostor, and his fact as 
an imposition, and a fraud upon experience. 
Every newly discovered fact, and every new 
revelation, therefore, if this were the standard 
of faith, would, from the beginning of the 
world to the present, have been discredited; 
and the world would be just where it started, 
at least so far as experience goes. The con- 
temporaries of the Saviour and his Apostles 
would have had no trouble in legitimately 
discrediting his doctrines and the miracles 
wrought in attestation of the faith revealed 



NATURAL REASON. 



183 



by him to them, if this had then been the 
standard and criterion of truth. The Atheni- 
ans did probably intimate such an objection 
to St. Paul's teaching when they said, " He 
seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods." 
But if such were the object of their speech, 
it has never had any influence upon the minds 
of any of the accusers of the Church who 
profess any form of Christianity. So far as 
it was an argument, or a standard of faith — if 
it were used as such — against St. Paul, it finds 
a response alone in the doctrine that experi- 
ence is the standard of divine faith ; which we 
have conclusively shown is untrue. But there 
is a better specification against this standard 
of divine faith, in the supernatural order, than 
any yet used for its refutation. This standard 
assumes and, if true, establishes, fundament- 
ally and irrefutably, that there is no superior 
order of existence to that natural order in 
which we exist. If a just rule of faith, we 
say, it establishes this striking and erroneous 
conclusion, beyond redemption or hope of 
question or dispute. What now says the sin- 
cere accuser of the Church, sincere in his 
accusation and sincere in his profession of 
Christianity, — what does he say to such a 
standard of faith ? Will he not hesitate long, 
and reconsider anxiously the grounds of his 



184: 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



faith, in the ecclesiastical relations he main- 
tains, before he again accuses the Church for 
a gross wrong, because she teaches her chil- 
dren that human experience is not a standard 
of divine faith ? "What says our sincere man 
and sincere professor of Christianity to a prin- 
ciple which, in the natural order, disproves 
the simplest and purest facts of sense ; and 
which, in the supernatural order, wipes out 
heaven and all the revelation and heavenly 
sustained traditions, and dethrones God and 
disinhabits his dwelling-place? He must re- 
spond. If this be so, experience is not the 
standard or rule of divine faith. But it is so : 
it is necessarily so, rigidly necessary, both 
by the laws of nature and the canons of logic. 
For instance, no man has realized, in the sense 
of experience as it is here used, the super- 
natural order. And the first revelation from 
Heaven in the supernatural order, to man in 
the natural order, was a new fact contrary to 
all human experience. By the rule of experi- 
ence, therefore, it was false. It could not 
possibly be true, because it was contradictory 
to all experience, in the same sense, and with 
the exact force, and the fulness of power that 
any new fact is contradictory to all experience, 
which, by the way, is a fallacy in fact as well 
as in reasoning. And as the first revelation 



NATURAL REASON. 



185 



from the supernatural order to the natural 
order must be discredited, under the rule in 
question, as contrary to experience, so must 
the second, and so on till the revelation of 
himself by Jesus Christ. And this, by the 
rule, must share the fate of all antecedent 
revelations. And so the rule disproves a 
supernatural order, and a God and a Father 
of it, and of our spirits ; and disinhabits heav- 
en. If this rule is at all distinguishable from 
the fallacious logic of Mr. Hume and his com- 
peers, the accusers of the Church would do 
Christianity a marked service by explaining, 
in a clear and satisfactory manner, in what 
the distinction consists. And though this 
essay is not written to refute Mr. Hume, nor 
was he even in the writer's mind at its com- 
mencement, nor yet at the beginning of this 
section of it, still I think it may be said that 
his argument against divine revelation is ut- 
terly annihilated by the facts and principles 
here used in controverting the dogma of de- 
lusion that experience is a standard of divine 
faith. And it is surely, at least, made clear 
that the divine faith of which the Church was 
constituted the depository, and which she 
teaches and dispenses to her children, is no 
more contrary to experience and the canons 
of logic than the same is contrary to reason, 

16* 



186 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



which, it has been shown, it in no manner 
contravenes. This section, withont any snch 
thought or design, we say, completely over- 
throws his dogma of infidelity, if he means by 
the term " experience " his individual experi- 
ence, or the individual experience of other 
men ; or if he means by it the social or com- 
munal " experience " of any people, such as 
the Jews, for instance, at the era of our 
Saviour, to whom a revelation may be made 
and before whom a miracle, wrought in at- 
testation of it, may be developed. But if he 
means the aggregate of human " experience," 
the place where his insidious fallacy is be- 
lieved to lurk, then it is equally ridiculous 
as an assertion of a fact, because individual or 
communal experience has been shown to be 
ridiculous as a principle. If Mr. Hume did 
mean the aggregate of human " experience," 
he made an assertion, of whose truth he 
was totally ignorant, and could not possibly 
know, even if it had been a fact. Mr. Hume 
did not, and could by no possibility, know 
what had been the aggregate of all human 
experience. For aught he knew, or could 
know, ten thousand miracles had been ex- 
perienced among men, and even in ages 
when there were no letters to record them. 
If, then, this notable dogma of infidelity 



NATURAL REASON. 



187 



is founded on the aggregate of human " ex- 
perience," it is simply the bold assertion 
of a proposition, which the author did not 
know, and could not know, to be true ; and, 
therefore, according to all the canons of moral- 
ity and logic, a cold, naked, and unblushing 
falsehood. If he used the term " experience " 
in the individual or common sense, the whole 
of this section, prior to the introduction of his 
name in it, is a complete refutation of his 
infidel and insidious but now harmless fallacy. 

"We now appeal to the manly, honorable, 
and fearlessly frank accusers of the Church, 
to answer on their consciences, whether the 
Church is censurable for teaching her children 
that human experience is not a standard of 
divine faith. And we have the most perfect 
confidence that when such accusers adjudicate, 
in the forum of conscience and intelligence, 
upon the appeal we submit to their decision, 
their judgment will be that the Church does 
nothing wrong, but all things right, in the 
instruction she gives her children in matters 
of divine faith. 



188 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



SECTION X. 

Common - Sense not the Standaed oe Eule oe 
Divine Faith. 

The subject of this section is elucidated and 
proved by exactly the same considerations and 
principles by which experience has been shown 
not to be the standard or rule of faith. But 
as common sense plays so important a part in 
the theology and in the faith of the accusers 
of the Church, it is certainly proper, if not 
necessary, to give its pretensions to be a rule 
of divine faith a separate consideration. What 
is common sense? Let us get a clear view 
of its force and meaning, when it is put for- 
ward as an exponent and interpreter and judge 
of the faith revealed by Jesus Christ to his 
Apostles, and the traditionary faith and ob- 
servances which he commanded them to teach 
all nations, to the end of the world. It is the 
meaning of common sense, when thus used 
and applied, which we are now to seek, and 
not its abstract meaning, nor its rightful in- 
terpretation when used and applied in any 
other manner, or for any other purpose what- 
ever. What, then, is common sense, when 



NATURAL REASON. 



189 



put forward as the exponent, the interpreter, 
and the judge of the divine faith, those tradi- 
tions of doctrine and observances which Jesus 
Christ commanded the Apostles to teach ? 
And first let us see what it does not mean. 
It is obvious that it does not mean the same 
thing as "reason" does, nor yet the same 
thing as " experience " does, at least in the 
mind of the Church's accusers. 

They mean something variant from, or as 
decidedly qualifying, both reason and experi- 
ence ; common sense, in their mind, must 
mean some external and generally received 
standard of credence which is commonly acted 
upon: it is a "common" thing. And it is 
manifest that it is human opinion of some sort. 
And when it concerns the question here made, 
it is the generally received opinion of the 
community, to which this sense is a " com- 
mon " thing. And we may, hence, for the 
purposes of this discussion, define it as the 
generally received opinion of mankind regard- 
ing religion and morality. But let it never 
be forgotten — let the eyesight gaze constantly 
upon it, that however large or however small 
the community of mankind may be which 
makes its common sense a standard of divine 
faith ; and how much soever it may be steep- 
ed in ignorance and debased by crime, or 



19a 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



however enlightened and refined, still the en- 
tire element and whole body of this common 
sense is human opinion. Human opinion! 
Yes, human opinion. It is the generally re- 
ceived human opinion concerning a revealed 
religion. How is this opinion, this common 
sense, formed and consolidated? It is evi- 
dently, in its whole, the full sum of all the 
vices and virtues of the "mankind" which 
enunciates it. And is therefore a composition 
of the sentiments, the imaginations, which 
conduce to opinion, the practices, the habits 
of thought, reflection, and action, as all these 
are inspired and informed by the condition of 
morals and culture common to the community 
of persons representing the common sense of 
what is called mankind. Hence, to preclude 
any idea of evasion on our part, we will again 
consider the dogma as that enlightenment of 
the common morality, the common conscience, 
and the common intellect, through the senti- 
ments and imagination, through the habits, of 
thought and reflection, through the life and 
practical virtues and vices ; through the entire 
discipline of manners which tend to elevate, 
and also through the entire discipline of so- 
ciety which tends to corrupt morals and de- 
base the perceptions of the soul for what is 
good and true ; through all the elements and 



NATURAL REASON. 



191 



conditions of humanity, which make up its 
human opinion, and which can enable this 
common sense rightly to accept or reject a 
divine revelation, or a matter claiming to be 
such. We regard it with reference to all these 
considerations. And all these we deem com- 
passed in the definition, namely, that common 
sense is the generally received opinion of man- 
kind regarding religion and morality : or, 
which comes nearly to the same thing, if it be 
not the very same, it is the generally received 
human opinion concerning a divinely revealed 
religion. The accusers of the Church must 
mean substantially this when they charge her 
with teaching a faith to her children contrary 
to common sense, as distinguishable from 
" reason " and also from " experience." But 
whatever idea the devotees of common sense, 
in matters of divine faith, have of its nature 
and office, when they reproach the Church for 
her teaching, one thing is certain, and cannot 
be evaded; and that is, this idea involves, 
folds up, within itself, a grievous folly and 
impious fallacy. Why ? Because, when the 
accusation is sifted to its foundation, analyzed 
to its core, it develops this proposition : 
Whenever Almighty God assumes to reveal 
any matter not in accordance with my com- 
mon sense, or with common sense in general, 



192 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



then what he reveals is untrue. Can there be 
a more shocking folly than this ? Can there 
be a more impious fallacy ? Is there any mis- 
take in the statement of the case? Each of 
these three questions must be answered in the 
negative by every well-informed, candid, and 
pious mind. Surely the accusers of the Church 
have never reflected upon the elementary 
nature of their charge against her, in reference 
to common sense. Undoubtedly they have 
not. For however much wrong they may 
have inflicted upon her and her children by 
their unjust reproaches, yet these children and 
their holy Mother cannot but be persuaded that 
these injuries have been heaped upon them 
from inconsiderate prejudice, from intemper- 
ate passion, and the injudicious violence which 
prejudice and passion are sure to produce. 
They will, rather than consider their accusers 
as deliberately, with a full understanding of 
what they do, putting forth a proposition of 
faith and action so revolting as this fallacy. 

This view, then, of common sense, namely : 
the generally received opinion of mankind 
regarding religion and morality ; or which is 
the generally received human opinion con- 
cerning a divinely revealed religion, is the 
view we shall take of it throughout this sec- 
tion. And this view, or any view of it, not 



NATURAL REASON. 



193 



including either reason or experience, which 
can be taken by the accusers of the Church, is 
setting up a claim for common sense to be 
infallible in her judgment, and is conceding 
to it supreme and irrepealable authority in 
matters of divine faith. How human opinion 
gets such authority from the concession of the 
Church's accusers, when they deny it to the 
Church, and to any institution established by 
the Apostles, in obedience to the command 
of Jesus Christ, is one of those curious anoma- 
lies of error which every day amazes the chil- 
dren of the Church. In denying infallibility 
to the Church on the teachings of common 
sense, her accusers, by the very act, assert 
that it is infallible. 

It is not a little remarkable that the uncath- 
olic mind has never perceived, that whenever 
they lodge the final power of judging upon 
the truth or falsehood of a divine revelation, 
that there they necessarily establish a supreme 
authority ; and if of any value at all, as ap- 
pellate and supreme, it must be infallible 
authority. If it does not decide in accordance 
with the teachings and mind of the Holy 
Ghost, its decisions are worse than null : they 
are too terrible in their character to be defined. 
The uncatholic mind strangely forgets that 
Clod placed somewhere a final and infallible 

13 17 



194 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



arbiter in all matters pertaining to divine 
faith. This is surely a fact of reason, even 
if the Church could not show it to be a di- 
vinely revealed, simple fact. 

Having now, we trust, a clear idea of what 
is, and also of what is not meant by common 
sense, and an idea which is to interpret the 
term throughout this section, we proceed to 
prove, more directly than we have hitherto 
done, the proposition, — That common sense 
is not the standard or rule of divine faith. 
Its right to this sacred authority is now 
the question. And the Church denies its 
authority, and teaches her children to dis- 
credit it at all times, and by all proper means. 
Is she criminal for so doing? Is she the 
destroyer of the souls of her own children, 
given to her by her divine spouse, because she 
so instructs them ? The Church constantly 
teaches them that nothing is to be credited 
by them as of divine faith, save the apostolic 
traditions and observances which Jesus Christ 
commanded her to teach to all nations, for 
all time. This being the case, the only in- 
vestigation she has to make, when she is ac- 
cused of not teaching according to the com- 
mon sense of mankind, is to inquire, under 
the guidance of the Holy Ghost, whether what 
she teaches is contained in the revelation of 



NATURAL REASON. 



195 



facts the Apostles were commanded to teach. 
Any other fact or system of facts, any opinion 
of mankind not contained in these, she totally 
ignores in her teaching. But she teaches that 
whatever facts and observances were com- 
prised in the apostolic traditions, — those her 
children must do and observe, amidst all re- 
proaches, and that they must lay down their 
lives rather than abandon them. ~Now which 
of all her accusers, on any idea whatever he 
may have of common sense, can affirm that 
his idea of it is what the Apostles were com- 
manded to teach ? 

Divine faith aside, and as a question of mere 
modesty, is not the thought very gross and 
shocking ? To get closer to the question : At 
what period, anterior to divine revelation, did 
common sense acquire its infallibility (or such 
infallibility, if you will) so as to be able, when 
the revelation was made, to judge of its fit- 
ness, in all its parts, to redeem man, and to 
elevate this judge itself to a knowledge in- 
finitely superior, in order and in extent, to 
what it had before possessed ? When and 
from whence did it derive its infallible power 
to discredit the apostolic teaching of the reve- 
lation of Jesus Christ, upon its simple asser- 
tion that such teaching was contrary to its 
own constitution % Was it an original endow- 



196 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ment of its nature by its Creator? or was it 
subsequently acquired by artificial means? 
Divine revelation and common sense are by 
no means equivalent terms. They are not 
equal to one and the same thing, and there- 
fore not equal to each other. One of them, 
then, must be superior to the other. "Which 
is superior in dignity and authority? "Who- 
ever will not believe a divine revelation, he- 
cause contrary to his common sense, neces- 
sarily makes the latter superior to the former. 
There ought to be — but this is impossible — 
some divine authority for so divine a claim on 
the part of common sense. But the Divinity 
could not elevate this sort of sense, this peculiar 
character of human opinion, to a superiority 
over himself. He could not so endow its ori- 
ginal constitution, that subsequently, by arti- 
ficial means, it could develop or cultivate itself 
in such manner as to be a rule and a judge 
over the fitness of any revelations he should 
thereafter make to his creature. Such endow- 
ments would dispense with the propriety, suit- 
ableness, and necessity of all revelations from 
God to man. The instant man, by an original 
endowment, or by his subsequent acquisitions, 
became vested with the authority to sit in 
judgment upon the fitness of his Maker's reve- 
lations, and to discredit them, as against his 



NATURAL REASON. 



197 



constitution, either original or acquired — that 
very instant he became the superior, and Al- 
mighty God the inferior. The judge is greater 
than him whom he judges. Hence the simple 
assertion that any act of God is untrue, because 
contrary to common sense, is little short of 
the coarsest blasphemy. Revelation is to be 
judged of by the goodness, the power, and 
veracity of the God revealing, and not by any 
sort of sense which is essentially a human opin- 
ion. If God be* infinite in power, perfect in 
his goodness and mercy to man in his ruined 
condition, and eternal in his truth ; and if man 
be of very limited and very perverted capacity 
in all these, with no instrument whatever to 
measure the economy of Heaven's King, it 
would be a very strange thing if God could 
not reveal facts contrary to man's common 
sense, even if it had a standard of truth to which 
all things, save the Word of God, were obliged 
to conform. It would be amazing indeed if 
he could not impose obligations and command 
duties by a revelation of his will, to which 
common sense and all human opinion would 
be obliged to yield implicit and unquestioning 
obedience. That common sense, or any form 
of human opinion, has a rightful authority to 
resist and contemn the expressed will of God, 
is a clear result of the Church-accusing dogma, 

17* 



198 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



though it has not been observed by her 
accusers. In their anxiety to make her odi- 
ous, thej" have never sought for the principle 
of their accusations. In their eagerness to 
justify their revolt against her authority they 
have overlooked the most obvious elements 
of shocking blasphemy which lie all over the 
surface of the allegations brought forward to 
rob her at once of her children and her faith. 
Why have they not perceived the patently ob- 
vious truth, that in a question of this sort the 
inquiry never is, what is it that common sense 
avouches and teaches? but it is, what is it 
which God has revealed and has commanded 
his Church to teach to all nations forever? 
It will be pretty evident soon, if this question 
were not so obvious as it is, that common 
sense has no standard of supernatural truth 
to which a revelation of God could be op- 
posed. Yet, if there were such a standard, 
we deny that a divine revelation would not 
have authority to control, direct, and reform 
it — ay, and to change it. We insist that 
God could, and might, most rightfully, make 
a revelation to it, requiring it to change all its 
preconceived opinions, and to change every 
habit it had acquired, without in the least 
compromising his dignity, or his authority, or 
his reasonable ministration to his creatures. 



NATURAL KEAS0N. 



199 



For however proper these preconceptions and 
habits of common sense may have appeared 
to herself, they may have been altogether in- 
consistent with real sense as it exists in the 
Divine Mind. The entire revelation of himself 
by Jesus Christ, was to the Jews a stumbling- 
block. Their preconceptions and apprehen- 
sions of the personality of the blessed Saviour, 
and of his character as revealed by himself, 
and of his mission, required to be changed ; 
and he in his lifetime had, and his Church 
as soon as he commissioned her had, and ever 
since has had, authority to demand the change. 
And it is to be remembered that the Jews 
were the keepers of the prophets and the 
prophetic predictions concerning the Saviour, 
and had the benefit of them, and the use of 
their own ministrations to discipline and re- 
form the crude and passionate common sense 
they followed in the crucifixion of the Lord 
of heaven and earth. To the refined and 
cultivated Greeks the revelation of our Saviour 
was foolishness. Their common sense, rich 
as it was in all pagan culture, was wholly 
inadequate to pass any judgment upon the 
traditionary faith which the Apostles taught. 
How other pagan nations and tribes, from 
that day to the present, have, by their com- 
mon sense, apprehended this divine revela- 



200 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



tion, it were as vain as tedious to state. A 
divine revelation, it would seem self-evident, 
would have for its very purpose — at any rate, 
such would be its nature — the design to come 
in conflict with and change the common sense 
of men : that is, the commonly received opin- 
ion of mankind regarding religion and moral- 
ity, or the generally received human opinion 
concerning a divine revelation. 

If men's common opinions of religion, at the 
advent of Jesus Christ, were not contrary to 
God's designs, and therefore in conflict with 
his will, and, hence, to be changed, — what 
was the object of the revelation of the blessed 
Saviour? It is true that the Jews, as the 
custodians of the oracles of God, had many 
articles of divine faith not to be changed. 
But these were divinely revealed facts, and all 
such are excluded from the idea of common 
sense by the necessity and conditions of the 
question here discussed, as are reason and 
experience. This caution we deem it proper 
to make, to prevent the possibility of being 
misconceived. No divinely revealed fact en- 
ters into the consideration of the question, 
neither do reason and experience enter it: 
these have been separately considered. 

Now, anterior to a revelation from God, 
where and what was the standard of common 



NATURAL REASON. 



201 



sense for a divine revelation ? What was its 
own standard for its own self concerning such 
a revelation ? It is evident it had no such 
standard before the revelation. It is equally 
evident that, at the instant of any revelation 
from the supernatural order, it could have no 
standard, except the veracity of God alone. 
It is perfectly plain that this veracity is the 
only standard it could ever afterwards acquire. 
All other standards, including its own as- 
sumed infallibility, were and are fabulous, 
deceitful — dreadfully wicked. The revelations 
of God from the supernatural order to man 
in the natural order had to be tried and ad- 
judged to be true, at the moment they were 
imparted to man, by a higher and purer stand- 
ard than the common sense of the world. 
This is doubtless an indisputable fact. We 
assume that it will not be questioned. Each 
revelation of God to man, then, at the moment 
it was imparted in the natural order, had to 
be tried and adjudged to be true upon a higher 
and a purer standard than common sense. 
And it is further taken as granted to be an 
indisputable fact that each successive revela- 
tion, at the instant of its being imparted to 
man, was above his common sense; and in 
that view, and so far, contrary to its universal 
thought, sentiment, and judgment. But as 



202 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



a fact in nature, and in a rigidly just sense, 
these successive revelations never were con- 
trary to or contradictory of common sense at 
all ; for it had no standard of what was true 
in the supernatural order for the divine reve- 
lations to contradict. The true nature and 
real office of these successive divine com- 
munications to man were to inform and en- 
lighten his common sense by extending his 
knowledge. The revelation, from its office in 
the nature of things, and from the logical 
use and power of the term, opened (revealed) 
to man new facts, which is an increase or 
extension of knowledge, and therefore not a 
contradiction to any of the powers of hu- 
manity. 

But in the view of being above common 
sense, in the view of not coinciding with its 
general ideas regarding religion and morality, 
viewing it as mere human opinion concerning 
a divinely revealed religion, it is at once con- 
ceded that there was no shade of what was 
claimed to be the common sense of the world 
— and what was its common sense, so far as it 
understood itself — but that the revelation of 
himself by Jesus Christ contradicted. And 
not only so, but where it was the naked com- 
mon sense of the world, undisciplined in any 
degree, and unenlightened in any manner, by 



NATURAL REASON. 



203 



any former divine revelation, — this naked com- 
mon sense, we say, Jesns Christ demanded 
to be totally changed or ntterly abolished. 
His revelation was the abolition of the world's 
naked common sense in reference to a divine 
revelation. This naked common sense, un- 
clothed in any degree, and unenlightened in 
any manner by former divine revelations, was 
universally dethroned, and a new supernatural 
sense, that is, the divinely revealed faith com- 
prised in the apostolic traditions and observ- 
ances, was commanded to be enthroned in 
its place in the hearts of mankind, instead of 
the old naked sense which was thus abolished. 
So stood naked common sense at the first 
revelation from God ; so it stood at each suc- 
cessive revelation from him, at the moment 
of its being imparted to man ; and thus it has 
stood, and will forever stand, until abandon- 
ing its own false opinions, which it erroneous- 
ly deems standards, it extends its knowledge 
by believing a divine revelation on the vera- 
city of God alone. This is the only standard 
of a divinely revealed faith. None other was 
ever given; no other can ever be acquired. 
It is assumed that this statement cannot be 
questioned. Will the learned theologians 
among the accusers of the Church explain 
how man's naked or natural common sense 



204 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



(which we will hereafter call his common 
sense, under the previous definitions of the 
term), about the beginning of the sixteenth 
century obtained superior endowments to 
what it possessed at the advent of the Son 
of God? ~No objection will be made to their 
response, because it may contain the matured 
result of their highest exertions of reason, 
together with all their experience. But if 
they cannot show a marked addition to the 
original endowments of common sense about 
that time, they surely will excuse the children 
of the Church for not abandoning the teach- 
ing of the Holy Apostolic Catholic Mother. 

The teachings of a divine revelation against 
which common sense, as informed and en- 
lightened by such teaching, had not only not 
revolted, but had acquiesced in for fifteen 
hundred years, are surely not to be lightly 
cast away. We do not see that the lessons 
of divine faith taught by this Church are 
to be abandoned by her children, even if her 
accusers had demonstrated that her dogmas 
of faith are contrary to common sense, in 
their own view of the term. And we do not 
perceive it, because, among other things, it 
is above (contrary to) our apprehension how 
a divinely revealed faith can be made to suc- 
cumb to common sense, or any human opin- 



NATURAL REASON. 



205 



ion, after it has been taught to the world for 
so many centuries. If common sense could 
not domineer over it and abolish it in the 
commencement of its teaching, by its divinely 
appointed ministers, we cannot understand 
from whence this human opinion derived its 
authority to destroy the faith in the sixteenth 
century of its teaching. And this is what 
we desire to see the learned theologians among 
the Church's accusers explain on either nat- 
ural or revealed principles. "Were the so- 
called Reformers, or any of them, as prophet 
or high priest, for all the rest, for all time, 
about the beginning of the sixteenth century, 
endowed by God or inspired by the Holy 
Ghost with the necessary capacities to pro- 
nounce the revelation made over fifteen hun- 
dred years before to the Apostles, or any part 
of it, as false, because contrary to their (modern) 
common sense? This, we think, is the exact 
and real statement of the question. At any 
rate, it is so just and so true to the point, 
that it must be answered and not evaded. 
And it must be responded to by simple facts 
and pure reason — not by mere opinion and 
heated declamation. For fifteen hundred years 
before what is called the reformation, the 
Catholic Church had been the recognized or- 
gan of Christ and his Apostles in teaching the 

18 



206 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



revelation of himself by the blessed Savioui 
to the world. 

All teaching contrary to that of the holy 
Catholic Church, prior to that time, was uni- 
versally, among acknowledged Christians of 
the orthodox faith, denounced as schismatical 
or heretical. Every heretic or schismatic that 
the Catholic Church had condemned and ex- 
communicated, up to that time, the original 
Reformers recognized as a heretic or schis- 
matic, with as much assurance as the very 
Church which had cast them off from her com- 
munion for denying or corrupting the faith 
of the Apostles. So far forth, then, as com- 
mon sense, under the enlightenment and teach- 
ing of divine faith, had acquired any juris- 
diction over the Church's teaching, it had 
adjudged for over fifteen hundred years, that 
her teaching infringed no right or prerogative 
over which authority had been confided to 
this human opinion by the constitution with 
which it was originally endowed by its Cre- 
ator, or that it had acquired by natural de- 
velopment or artificial means subsequently. 
Common sense had not adjudged the Church 
a usurper of its supremacy in matters of divine 
faith up to that time. The Traditions of the 
Church — which is but another name for its 
universal teaching, in all time, since the days 



NATURAL REASON. 



207 



of the Apostles, — had not been contrary to 
the common sense of Christians up to the in- 
stitution of what is called the Reformation; 
that is, for over fifteen hundred years of the 
lifetime of Christianity. 

This is conceded by the accusers of the 
Church, and known by Catholics. This plain 
matter of fact brings us up to the exact and 
real question on the matter immediately in 
point at present, and which is this : By what 
means and through what instrumentality did 
common sense, in the sixteenth century, be- 
come endowed with the capacity, the right, 
and the duty to pronounce all the anterior 
common sense of all former Christians as false 
and contrary to its own nature and constitu- 
tion? "We speak of common sense as before 
defined, and by the common sense of Chris- 
tians we mean that faculty enlightened by 
Christian faith. This new endowment, this 
human opinion, common sense itself perceives 
is a mighty change in its nature and office : 
the implantation of an element as new as 
wonderful in its relation to divine faith into its 
character. Now, was this new element of ju- 
risdiction — not only over the anterior common 
'sense of all former Christians, but directly and 
mainly a matter of jurisdiction and authority 
in matters of divine faith, — a sudden develop- 



208 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



merit of natural power, inherent in its original 
nature ; or was it a new power given by the 
inspiration of the Almighty to common sense ? 
or, in other words, was it a new revelation, 
which was designed by God to supplant the 
old faith? 

The accusers of the Church are bound to 
tell us by which of these processes common 
sense acquired this new and divine power. 
For if it suddenly, all at once, or gradually, 
obtained it by the natural development of its 
original constitution, then the Church has a 
perfect right to instruct her children that the 
mere process of nature in their development 
cannot falsify, much less change into idolatry, 
a revelation of divinity. She may forever, 
with the security peculiar to herself, stand 
upon a divine revelation as superior in matters 
of divine faith, to nature in her best under- 
stood, fullest, and most spotless developments. 
Hence we may affirm, with perfect assurance, 
that common sense did not derive this new 
power of accusing and judging the Church 
by the processes of its natural development. 
But one other supposition is possible, which 
is : did it acquire this authority and juris- 
diction in matters of divine faith by inspira- 
tion — a revelation from God? In the first 
place, reason teaches us, so far forth as she 



NATURAL REASON. 



209 



has any standards, that God would not, after 
the lapse of fifteen hundred years, make a 
new revelation to his Church, contradictory 
of those original revelations by which he con- 
stituted her the teacher of all nations, even 
unto the consummation of the world. His 
commands and promises could not be thus 
annulled and falsified by himself. 

And in the second place, no such new reve- 
lation is pretended to have been made to any 
reformer, or to any successor of any reformer. 
No accuser of the holy Catholic Church ever 
has pretended that God, by his Son, his pro- 
phets, or by his angels, ever made any new 
revelation to him, or to his sect, or to any 
other sect. This, of course, is conclusive that 
no such revelation was ever given. But if 
it were assumed that such new revelation had 
been delivered to some reformer, the holy 
Catholic Apostolic Church, as the guardian 
of the original and sacred deposit of the faith 
comprised in the apostolic traditions and ob- 
servances which she was constituted to keep 
and perpetuate for her children forever, would 
be forced to demand who was this new re- 
vealer ? Who did he claim to be ? The Son 
of God ? His angel ? Or one of his prophets ? 
And then she would demand his credentials 
— his supernatural powers, as exhibited in 

u 18* 



210 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



miracles or other God-like form. And if this 
assumed new messenger could adduce no such 
miraculous credentials, then the Church would 
surely act wisely in teaching her children that 
such new doctrine was not worthy of their 
credence, and was, indeed, a marked insult 
to, and a very blunt assault upon, their com- 
mon sense, as disciplined by the faith of the 
Apostles. That it was wholly incredible as 
a heaven-born and heavenly-revealed fact. 
That it was a delusion of mere human opinion, 
and utterly false as a matter of divinely re- 
vealed faith. But what is the standard of this 
common sense ? We mean what is its stand- 
ard among men ? Not in the supernatural 
order, for there, we have seen, it is an im- 
possibility for it to have any. Among what 
tribe and in what family of what tribe, is 
to be found the common sense which is the 
rule of divine faith ? No more serious ques- 
tion can be propounded to man than this, 
if the Church, of which the Apostles were 
consecrated the teachers by the blessed Jesus 
himself, is to be supplanted upon the assumed 
rights of this sense. " Let every soul be sub- 
ject to the higher powers," is the teaching 
of the Church to her children. And if the 
teachings of common sense are superior to 
the apostolic Church, it is of vast importance 



NATURAL REASON. 



211 



to her children to know it ; for the immortal 
happiness of every one of them is staked upon 
the truth or falsity of the teachings of their 
holy Mother. The common sense of the world, 
if there be such a sense, strictly speaking, in 
reference to the divine faith, is as variable 
as the faces, habits, and pursuits of men. The 
common sense of Asia is not the same, in 
reference to divine faith, at least, that it is 
in America. No two tribes in Asia, even, 
have the same common sense in this matter. 
The common sense of Europe is in very much 
the same condition, in relation to both Europe 
and America. That sort of common sense in 
Africa is different from all the other quarters 
of the globe. And each of her tribes has a 
common sense distinguishable from all the 
others, in reference to divine revelation. But 
to get nearer home: which of the diversified 
sects in religion in the United States, claim- 
ing to found their faith alone on the written 
Word, hold in their keeping the true common 
sense, which is the real standard by which 
divine faith is to be measured? Common 
sense is thus seen most clearly, as an every- 
place, every-day practical fact, to be fallible, 
variable, contradictory, and contestatory, on 
the subject of divine faith. Is a fallible, 
changeable, contestating thing to be set up 



212 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



as a standard of divine faith — the true repre- 
sentative of the voice of God, which com- 
manded his Church to teach his utterances 
of faith to all nations forever ? The holy 
Catholic Apostolic Church claims that in her 
teachings of faith to her children — that in her 
utterances of her dogmas of divine doctrine — 
she is the true representative of the voice of 
God : that she utters what he commanded her 
to utter in teaching the world. And she 
Jcnows, and so teaches her children and the 
world, that whoever or what institution soever 
does not utter his voice, nor even claim to 
utter it, in teaching divine faith, usurps a 
most dangerous power, and one fraught with 
undefinable error and with terrible peril to 
the souls who may trust the assumptions of 
the teacher. What sort of a God would he 
be who could utter, and establish churches 
to utter, all the variant and discordant and 
contesting voices which are spoken by the 
six hundred sects who accuse the Church of 
usurping the rights of common sense? He 
would be a fallible, changeable God, in ever- 
lasting contest, if not contradiction, with his 
own voice, — a God, often, of indubitable ab- 
surdities, and even crimes, and not a God 
of truth and holiness. The Church, in op- 
position to so much disorganization, announces 



NATURAL REASON. 



the faith to her children thus : " One Lord, 
one faith, one baptism." But the advocates 
of common sense as a rule of divine faith, 
may say, You do not discuss the rule in the 
exact view we attach to it ; we say the rule 
requires only the average of common sense 
to be taken as the rule of divine faith. Yery 
well : what is the average ? How shall it be 
ascertained? Only by some sort of combina- 
tion and comparison of the whole ; the result 
of which, when a result can be had, will be 
the average of the entirety : and so the rule of 
divine faith. This (averaged) result, it will be 
an impossibility to obtain. If common reason 
can teach common sense any thing in refer- 
ence to divine faith, she tells her, without any 
doubt, that it never could be ascertained. 
Imagination, even, cannot give us a probable 
idea, nor any idea, of what the mixture of all 
the common sense of all the tribes and families 
of men would produce as articles of divine 
faith, upon an averaged result from the whole. 
It doubtless would be the most grotesque ab- 
surdity that either a healthy or a diseased 
mind ever gave birth to, in the way of a 
mental monstrosity. The child delivered from 
the womb of the common sense of all minds, 
instead of being a son of truth, fitted to be 
an infallible teacher to all nations, to the con- 



214 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



summation of the world, would be so very 
hideous a thing that its moral form and ap- 
pearance would shock the most besotted pa- 
gans. No moral absurdity which the Church 
has condemned, from those of Simon Magus 
to the Mormon prophet, could equal it in 
horror and shamelessness. 

But whatever standard of divine faith is the 
true one, it must have existed at the advent, 
or at least during the mission, of the blessed 
Saviour. Reason teaches common sense this, 
if she does not know it herself. The true 
standard must have existed at the time the 
revelation was made by which it was to be 
measured: otherwise there would have been 
a revelation and no criterion of belief — nothing 
by which it could be believed. This sup- 
position, all will agree, is wholly inadmissible. 
Then, if common sense be the standard of 
divine faith, or a standard, it is evident that 
this rule of faith was the common sense of the 
world at the time our Saviour revealed the 
faith. What sort of common sense was that ? 
Who knows, so as to reveal it to the Church 
for her guidance in teaching her children? 
It is a naked fact that there is no man or 
institution who or which professes, even, to be 
the depository of this common sense. How, 
then, is it to be taught ? Or, rather, how is 



NATURAL REASON. 



215 



divine faith to be taught under its regulation, 
and within the limits which it prescribes ? It 
is, moreover, manifest that the same objections 
would obtain to a son born from the general 
average of this ancient common sense, as to 
that other birth from the womb of the gen- 
eral average of common sense, which we have 
seen would shock the very savages. The one 
birth would be as horrid a religious deformity 
as the other. But if there were, now, a person 
or institution claiming to be the depository 
of the common sense which the world had 
at the time of our Saviour, and the claim 
were granted as valid, it is a plain simple fact, 
as well as a fact of reason, that this sacred 
deposit would not be held by the common 
sense of mankind. It would be, instead, a 
traditionary depositum. Hence faith would 
have to be invoked to give it credence with 
the world. Will the accusers of the Church 
take an especial note of this fact, as it exists 
in nature, and not in our assertion ? That com- 
mon sense which existed at the time our bless- 
ed Saviour revealed the faith to the Church, 
is now, if held by any men or institution, a 
traditionary depositum. So that if the Catho- 
lic Apostolic Church were to adopt this tra- 
dition, instead of the faith divinely revealed 
to her, she would be still teaching faith, and 



216 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



not common sense. Her bishops would have 
to teach the world that this common sense 
now taught, is the same which the world had 
when the Saviour revealed to it his doctrines. 
This would be teaching faith ; and if the world 
believed the teaching, it would be performing 
an act of faith, and not exercising its own 
common sense. The rule is destructive of 
itself, even if an average of the common sense, 
or any sort of sense, could be taught, which 
existed at the foundation of the Church. But 
a rule which destroys itself, and in the very 
act of distinction re-establishes the rule of 
faith against which the felo de se aimed its 
power, is not a rule. A rule to test divine 
faith, which destroys itself in the act, and 
by the same act introduces a new rule, variant 
from its own office and nature, is an absurd 
expedient of error to screen its deformity from 
the staid, strict gaze of an honest analysis ; 
but not a criterion of truth. It is a mental 
opinion which is entirely false in fact and 
utterly absurd in its consequences. 

We again say the accusers of the Church 
must mend their logic and improve upon 
their study of the nature of things as they 
really exist, and especially upon the relations 
of common sense to divine faith, before they 
arraign the holy Catholic Apostolic Church 



NATURAL REASON. 



217 



for error in teaching as divine truths things 
which, in their judgment, are contrary to 
common sense. 

But, very briefly and in conclusion, the 
divine faith was not revealed by the blessed 
Saviour to the "common" sense nor "com- 
mon" any thing else of mankind ; nor were 
the Apostles commanded to teach any thing 
" common." Such as common sense was, and 
whatever it was, the world had had enough of 
it : this was obvious enough, without the pain- 
ful mission and wonderful death of our Saviour, 
to reveal and attest it. The world has had at 
all times an abundance of what it esteems its 
common sense ; and the world is so confident 
in the graces and powers of its common sense 
that it never seeks or receives any guarantees 
for its teachings ; and it especially repulses 
and contemns supernatural ones. But the 
apostolic traditions and observances, which the 
Church was commanded to teach, were re- 
vealed to a select order of men, and not to the 
commonalty. A select order of men were 
directed to teach them with authority, and 
not in obedience to common sense. They 
were to teach the facts revealed, and not hu- 
man opinions concerning their nature. And 
facts, even, in the natural order, are such real 
and substantial things as to put at defiance 

19 



218 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



all objections of either reason, experience, or 
common sense. A fact, in its existence and 
its real effects, must exist, though reason, 
experience, and common sense, as they live 
in human opinion, all combined to discredit 
its forces and being. 



SECTION XI. 

Pecuniary Prosperity and Material Power in In- 
dividuals and Nations not a Standard or Kulb 
of Divine Faith. 

Perhaps the Church and her children never 
contemplate poor, fallen human nature with 
profounder humility and penance, than in the 
deep abyss where, untouched and unpene- 
trated by divine grace, human nature re- 
quires the faithful to contest such a propo- 
sition as this with their adversaries. If the 
faith of the children of the Church were not 
in fact continually assailed, because, as her 
accusers allege, it is evident her teaching tends 
to repress human energy in the acquisition 
of money and goods, and tends to hinder men 
in their march to material greatness and 
power, it would seem incredible that such 
a standard could be applied to her faith, to 
test its truth as a revelation from God. 



NATURAL REASON. 



219 



If her faith had not been denied and she 
accused, because Catholic nations are not 
money-making and great in wealth and ma- 
terial power as Protestant nations, it would 
be as incredible as shocking to imagine snch 
a test of divine faith. We read in the Beati- 
tudes of our blessed Saviour, " Blessed are the 
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven." But we read nothing of any bless- 
ing on the rich or noble. On the contrary, 
we learn from the lips of our divine Master 
that not many rich and noble were called. 
We hear him say, "Verily, I say unto you, 
that a rich man shall hardly enter into the 
kingdom of God." We hear him say that the 
kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who 
made a marriage-feast for his son ; and when 
they that were bidden went to their farms and 
to their merchandise, he directed his servants 
to go into the highways and bring to the feast 
whomsoever they should find. And when he 
saw the people cast money into the treasury, 
" and many that were rich cast in much, 
and there came a poor widow and she threw 
in two mites, he said, ' Verily this poor widow 
hath cast more in than all those which have 
cast into the treasury.' " We hear him say, 
"Therefore, take no thought, saying, what 
shall we eat ? or what shall we drink ? or 



220 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



wherewithal shall we be clothed?" Hence 
it follows that, if his teaching be true, that 
any inference drawn against the teachings 
of his Church, hecause her children are poor, 
is false; it is a calumnious conclusion, from 
unwarranted assumptions, against his glorious 
name. Such inference is a treasonable ar- 
raignment of a fact again and again asserted 
by his divine Word. Such reasoning betrays 
an ignorance of divine faith that should speed- 
ily put itself in the way of knowledge and 
truth, when such conclusions are drawn with 
reliance upon their correctness and conscien- 
tiously. In such cases, all the good among 
men, and all the guardian angels of the erring, 
must weep with bitter tears for the folly of 
the accuser of the faith. And when it is 
made with a full knowledge that the accu- 
sation is calumnious, then is the malignity 
of the accusers sad indeed. Alas ! what prayer 
shall save them from the condemnation they 
incur ? " Father forgive them, for they know 
not what they do!" is a prayer that cannot 
be uttered for them. And, if not, the Church 
and her faithful children may well put on 
sackcloth and ashes to discover, if it may 
be found, the form of prayer which will bring 
them to cry out, "Men and brethren! what 
shall we do to be saved?" 



NATURAL REASON. 



221 



How this test of divine faith came to be 
applied by the same men who apply those 
of " reason" and " experience " and " common 
sense," is a remarkable instance of the logical 
and theological fact, that when men, in mat- 
ters of divine faith, once let hold of the sure 
apostolic traditions and observances which 
the blessed Jesus revealed to the holy Catholic 
Apostolic Church, and which he commanded 
her to teach forever, to follow the delusions 
of their opinions, there is no form of error 
which is too gross in itself, and too grossly 
inconsistent with other opinions to which 
they as firmly, as delusively cling, for them 
to embrace. There is no fallacy, or vagary, 
or absurdity, that men have not maintained 
and defended after denying the faith of the 
Church. 

It would be as interesting as instructive for 
any of the accusers of the Church, who are, 
of course, as ignorant of her history as they 
are of her standards of faith, to glance at even 
a- few of the wild and monstrous doctrines she 
has condemned throughout her lifetime, from 
the Ebionites to the Mormons. And what 
men have done who deny the faith of the 
Apostles which the Church teaches, they do 
now, and will do forever. The ever-recurring 
circle of errors which the Church has con- 

19* 



222 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



demned is as astonishing as the errors them- 
selves. Ask reason what logical or practical 
connection there is between getting gain and 
obtaining power over the fortunes and persons 
of others and divine revelation or faith, and 
she will respond at once that the question is 
an impeachment of sense and justice. Ask 
experience, and she will tell that few men 
grow rich but at the expense of honor and 
right. It is notoriously true, she will say, the 
world over, that the rigidly honest and purely 
religious man seldom becomes rich. Ask com- 
mon sense, and, so far as she can respond, she 
will teach us that very few can accumulate 
great wealth but at the heavy expense of 
habitual wrong to the rights of man and the 
faith of God. Yet in the face of these other 
invoked tests, and their universal teaching, 
we find that the faith the Church teaches her 
children is accused as false, because the faithful 
are not as rich, and surrounded with so much 
material greatness, and earthly power, and 
mechanical splendor, as the devotees of the 
sects. But if reason and experience and com- 
mon sense did not overthrow this pecuniary 
and mechanical rule of faith, undoubtedly the 
divine Word, whether sought in the apostolic 
traditions and observances or in the written 
Scriptures, would. And here we might dis- 



NATURAL REASON. 



223 



miss this canon of faith as crushed in its head 
by the other canons which the accusers of the 
Church attempt to seduce into a war with her 
faith, but which will not make war upon her 
divine teaching, neither by reason of blandish- 
ments nor by reason of virulence. Waging 
that war, the tests of reason, experience, and 
common sense are aware that each must be 
the assassin of the other. 

We choose to sift this pecuniary and me- 
chanical test of divine faith a little more, 
before we cast it, as the chaff it is, to the 
winds. If this be a just test of divine faith, 
one of two things must be true : either the 
richest and most powerful man in the world, 
or the richest and most powerful nation in 
the world, at the ascension of our Saviour, 
was constituted the depository of the faith, 
and the lawful administrator of his sacra- 
ments. Yet, according to his Word, a very 
few and very poor men, of mean occupations 
and vulgar culture before grace, were consti- 
tuted the keepers and teachers of the sacred 
deposit. But grant that this is a mistake, as 
we must do, to investigate the natural and 
logical character of this remarkable, this pe- 
cuniary and mechanical test of divine faith, 
by which the Church is despoiled of her rights 
and authority, in teaching the faith once com- 



224 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



mitted to the saints — grant it : who, then, was 
this richest and most powerful man in the 
world, who was appointed the first supreme 
pontiff and vicar of Christ, because of his 
superiority in riches and power, over all his 
fellows ? Neither reason, nor experience, nor 
common sense informs us. All history and 
all theological teaching are silent as the realms 
of the dead as to the existence of such a 
person. And we may infallibly assert that 
the divinely revealed faith our blessed Saviour 
commanded to be taught forever, to all na- 
tions, was not committed to any such person- 
age to teach to mankind. This may be in- 
fallibly asserted on the teachings of reason, 
experience, and common sense. Then it must 
have been committed to the pagan Romans, 
as a nation ; for they were, without doubt, at 
the date of our Lord's ascension, the greatest 
people in wealth and material power then on 
the globe. The individual wealth and luxury 
and magnificence of the Romans, and the 
material power of the Roman state, were then 
unexampled. By the pecuniary and mechani- 
cal rule of divine faith, therefore, the Roman 
government, or the Roman people en masse, 
was constituted the depository of the faith, 
and this government, or this mass of people, 
was commanded to teach it to the world. 



NATURAL REASON. 



225 



Such puerilities and absurdities, alike childish, 
ridiculous, and revolting, are the accusers of 
the Church forced to adopt, if they adhere to 
the standards which they erect to prove her 
teaching false. This pecuniary and mechani- 
cal test of divine faith is too awful in its 
character to admit of its full exposure by 
probing through its rottenness to its hateful 
core. Indeed, when this Diana is unveiled — 
disrobed of its " silver shrines," — its naked 
principles are so detestable, its pure, natural 
results so abhorrent, that few will have the 
hardihood and be so blind as to defend its inde- 
cency, obscenity, and blasphemy. It involves 
all these in a degree too shocking to unfold. 
So plainly and entirely is this obvious to any 
steady and piercing gaze, that we are far from 
being sure that any one who has advocated or 
suggested this rule, will not, on facing its mad- 
ness and folly, shrink back from it as some- 
thing he has always abhorred. If such shall 
be the case — if a careful, straightforward ex- 
amination of its malignant deformity shall 
shroud the region of memory and conduct so 
as to be oblivious to its recognition, we, with 
all the children of the Church, will joyously 
furnish the veils which will envelop it in 
eternal forgetfulness, cover it up so deeply in 
the grave of the past that time, nor scrutiny, 

15 



226 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



nor controversy, will ever be empowered to 
rake it up to resurrection and another judg- 
ment. 

But there are some practical examples, in 
the contrast of Catholic states with Protestant 
states, which the accusers of the Church assert 
as at once an evidence and illustration of the 
pecuniary and mechanical rule of divine faith. 
In Europe, England is constantly contrasted 
with Spain ; and in America, the United States 
with Mexico. Why not contrast England 
with pagan Rome — making liberal deductions 
from the present state of the former in favor 
of the latter, on account of the advancement 
of the world in the knowledge of machinery 
and military strategy ? The present power of 
England is owing to machines, and not to 
religion. But let that pass, under a dim ap- 
prehension that in process of time inanimate 
machines of the most exquisite workmanship 
and extensive usefulness may be set up as 
criterions of divine power, if not as a real 
standard of faith. There are physical causes 
existing in Mood and race, and there are facts 
in recent history, which are sufficient to ac- 
count for England's superior material power 
to Spain, without virtually asserting that the 
Almighty gave the former a divine faith 
which taught them the invention and use of 



NATURAL REASON. 



227 



looms and cannon of a superior kind to those 
invented and nsed in Spain, and that there- 
fore England has the true faith and Spain 
has not. England's commercial position is 
most commanding, why not make her physi- 
cal geography a rule of divine faith, as well 
as her spinning-jennies and foundries? But 
England was invaded and totally subjugated 
by numerous hordes of robbers and pirates — 
men of peculiar energy, of blood and acqui- 
sition, even before the time of "William, styled 
the conqueror. By these the old inhabitants 
were nearly exterminated. The blood of these 
invaders, diluted with the Norman plunderers, 
is the blood of the English race, and among 
her people " it still lives in the strength of its 
manhood, and full of its original spirit." The 
bones of a thousand tribes and the plunder of 
hundreds of provinces attest that this blood 
has lost none of its original character, how- 
ever time and circumstances may have varied 
the forms of its peculiar development. The 
original inhabitants of Spain were not sup- 
planted by foreign robbers. They struggled 
for eight centuries against the Moors, and 
finally drove them from her soil. The empire 
of Spain has very recently been diminished 
by revolutions, first in Europe and then in 
America. These revolutions will not be claim- 



228 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ed as standards or elements of divine faith, 
because the revolting colonies were of the 
same religion as the parent state ; and there- 
fore this loss of empire will not be attributed 
to the faith the Church taught to her children, 
and now teaches to both Spain and her once 
rebellious but now independent provinces. In 
the present century Spain has been the theatre 
of the most desolating war which ever afflicted 
a civilized state. The armies of Napoleon's 
marshals left her one wide field of ashes, 
slaked in blood. The soldiers of "Wellington, 
sent to expel the French invaders, contributed 
almost as largely to the total destruction of 
her material wealth as did the soldiers of Na- 
poleon. Between the two, Spanish agricul- 
ture, Spanish commerce, Spanish arts, and 
Spanish wealth were annihilated. All her 
sources of material power and progress were 
swept into the pools of utter destruction, which 
engulfed all her then capital, except the 
mere physical bodies of her people. This 
destruction of her material wealth occurred 
but fifty years ago. And hence it is unrea- , 
sonable, is requiring too much of Spain, un- 
less, indeed, she were miraculously assisted 
in the creation of money and the invention 
and construction of machines to multiply 
labor, and in the making and using engines 



NATUKAL REASON. 



229 



for war, to demand or even expect her to be 
the equal of Great Britain in material power. 
To require of any people, within fifty years, 
without any capital, because destroyed by 
hostile armies ; without commerce, because 
of no capital to carry it on ; without manu- 
factures, because of no money to erect ma- 
chinery and supply the raw material, and 
because of no practised skill to operate ma- 
chinery. To require such a people within 
fifty years, to be the equal in all things to 
Great Britain, with her accumulations and 
plunders of a thousand years, is surely a hard 
rule of faith, and is certainly against reason, 
experience, and common sense. And to de- 
nounce, or to make insidious suggestions 
against the religion of Spain as false, because 
under these circumstances — these accumulated 
physical misfortunes, she is not England's equal 
in material power, is abolishing all connection 
between cause and effect, and all distinction 
between propositions which are founded in 
fact and those which have no existence, save 
in the heated prejudice a blind passion con- 
jures up in the perverted imaginations of in- 
considerate, unreflecting men. But material 
facts are no criterion of divine facts. There 
is no relation of cause and effect between a 
magnificent iron foundry and a divine revela- 
20 



230 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



tion : none whatever of illustration or analogy. 
And what consequences exist in, what facts 
may flow from, what moral or divine truths 
there may be connected with, a spinning-jen- 
ny, which are tests and criterions of the truths 
which were contained in the apostolic tradi- 
tions and observances that the blessed Saviour 
revealed to the Apostles and commanded them 
to teach to all nations forever, is not perceived 
in its reason, in its experience, or in its com- 
mon sense, by the Catholic mind. Because 
there are many cotton-factories and iron-foun- 
dries in England, it does not follow that she 
has been the theatre of many, or of any, 
divine revelations. Indeed, the accusers of 
the Church and the devotees of the pecuniary 
and mechanical test of divine faith, scout the 
idea that the divine mind made any revelation 
to his people at or just before the era of the 
invention of machines for spinning and weav- 
ing fabrics made of cotton. And, however 
much their direct assertion or covert insinua- 
tion of this test may be extended to prejudice 
the faith of the holy Catholic Apostolic Church, 
and how confidently soever her accusers may 
cherish this test, — still, if any one of them 
were put to the maintenance of a direct prop- 
osition to show the slightest connection, ei- 
ther natural, logical, or revealed, between a 



NATURAL REASON. 



231 



cotton-jenny and divine revelation, lie would 
be rather startled, and be inclined to shrink 
back from his criterion of faith when thus 
nakedly presented to his mental, moral, and 
religious eyesight. He would begin to evade 
a recognition of the principle, by ignoring a 
perception of its true idea and real character. 
So much for England and Spain. 

Before we enter upon the other example, 
let the reader be reminded that England, by 
the pecuniary and mechanical rule of divine 
faith, is held out as a sort of standard of the 
true revelation of God for the whole world. 
And permit, kind reader, this other remark, 
that we, the people of the United States, are 
but the same people, the same blood and 
lineage as the Eno-lish. So far as we are 
Anglo-Saxon, we are the very same blood. 
So far as we are Celtic, we are not of their 
lineage and race. "We are not a new people ; 
we are as old as Celts and Saxons. On this 
statement we proceed to the contrast between 
Catholic Mexico and Protestant United States. 
St. Augustin went as a missionary to England 
a. d. 595 ; St. Patrick about the year a. d. 440 
had planted the Christian faith in Ireland, so 
that, whether we be Celts or whether we be 
Saxons, our race has been under Christian 
discipline and progress for twelve hundred 



232 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



and seventy-four years, at least. Now, the 
Mexicans have been under the same discipline 
about three hundred years. It does not seem 
exactly fair nor yet a thing of reason, to 
require the Mexican people to advance as 
high in the scale of Christian civilization in 
three hundred years as Celts and Saxons have 
done in twelve hundred and seventy-four 
years, or else to have their faith denounced 
as causing whatever disparity appears be- 
tween Saxons and Celts on one hand, in their 
moral and material aspects, as exhibited in 
the United States, and the Mexicans on the 
other. The comparison is manifestly unjust ; 
it is plainly against reason ; it contradicts 
all historical teaching. The Mexicans are as 
high now in all the elements of civilization 
as any pagan nation ever was within three 
hundred years after the introduction of Chris- 
tianity among them. It takes long ages of 
training — it has taken twelve hundred and 
seventy-four years of training — to bring up 
our race to its present standard of refinement 
on the scale of civilization. Just so long, by 
the mellowing and progressive influences of 
the expanding elements of Christianity, has 
been required to cultivate and educate us to 
our standard of Christian cultivation and edu- 
cation ; and just so long, consequently, have 



NATURAL REASON. 



233 



our material refinements — our material refine- 
ments been ripening and progressing under 
the power and in the light of Christianity. 
Let us give the Mexicans the same chance, 
in time, at least, before we traduce either their 
blood or their religion. But another fact is 
affirmed, boldly, confidently affirmed, and it 
is commended to the reflection and unpre- 
judiced consideration of every mind enlighten- 
ed by history and enriched by thought. This 
fact, we presume, so confidently to advance 
into the presence of learning and thought, 
for both of which we have the highest rever- 
ence, even when perverted from their true 
destiny by errors of opinion, mistaken for 
faith, — this fact, we say, if history sustains 
it, makes both the blood and religion of the 
Mexicans superior to the English, on the the- 
ory of the pecuniary and mechanical rule 
of divine faith. The truth is, then, history 
affirms it so to be, that the Mexicans are now 
greatly superior in arts, science, laws, social 
manners, — in all the moral and material re- 
finements of an enlightened civilization, to 
what the Anglo-Saxons were three hundred 
years (a. d. 895) after the introduction of Chris- 
tianity among them, by St. Augustin. The 
fact will hold out to be truth after every 
proper deduction is made for the superior 

20* 



234 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



means of advancement in civilization to be 
found in the last three centuries, to what were 
to be found for its advancement from a. d. 595 
to a. d. 895. In all the elements of social 
decency, moral refinement, and political ad- 
vancement, there is no comparison between 
the two. In gross ignorance, in brutality of 
manners, in incessant revolutionary turbulence, 
in continual insurrection, in inhuman butcher- 
ies, and horrible massacres of each other, the 
Anglo-Saxons, from a. d. 595 to a. d. 895, 
were more shameless, beyond any estimate, 
than have been the Mexicans during all of 
the three last centuries. So far, then, the 
pecuniary and mechanical rule of divine faith 
will not work out the solution demanded by 
its application. But there is more yet to be 
considered: the candid accuser of the holy 
Church has dispassionately, and with as little 
bias as it is possible for him to entertain 
against a people professing the Catholic faith, 
to ponder profoundly in a comparison between 
the Protestant United States and Catholic 
Mexico, who the Mexicans are. "Who are 
they? The Mexicans are the descendants of 
the aboriginal inhabitants; they are the In- 
dians which Catholic Spain found on the soil 
when she subjugated it to her power. These 
Indians, the Mexicans, are a sample, and a 



NATURAL REASON. 



235 



perfectly uniform or fair one, of three hundred 
years of Catholic training of the aborigines. 
The Catholic religion has made them what 
they are in that time. In so far as they are 
distinguishable from the original inhabitants 
Spain found upon the soil — just so far, exact- 
ly, is their amelioration or deterioration at- 
tributable to Catholic teaching, under the 
circumstances in which it has been exerted ; 
which circumstances, as every one knows, 
have been very far, indeed, from being favor- 
able to the extension of pure religion and a 
rich harvest of fruits from the holy faith* 
The state has tried to awe, and has plundered, 
and her factions have greatly damaged the 
usefulness, and greatly tended to hinder alto- 
gether the teaching, of the Church, and thus 
to destroy the moral and civil progressiveness 
that underlies the religious faith of her chil- 
dren. But waiving this : still we say, that in 
so far as the Mexicans at present are different 
in moral, religious, and civil refinements, from 
the original inhabitants found on the soil, that 
far is their advancement justly ascribable to 
the teachings of the Catholic faith. These 
Mexicans, we now see, are our Indians — Cath- 
olic Indians. ISTow Protestant United States, 
with no intent to wound your individual 
pride, and with still less to insult our common 



236 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



government, and with still less intent, if pos- 
sible, to wound your moral and religious sen- 
sibilities, we ask you to show us the results, 
upon the scale of moral and civil progression, 
of your training of Indians for three cen- 
turies, dating back from the present. "Where 
are your Indians — your Protestant Indians, 
believing your creed and practising your re- 
ligion? The Mexicans are ours. They are 
in many cases very bad Catholics, we admit. 
"We have no disposition to deny it, any more 
than to utter any other untruth. But where 
are your Protestant Indians, who are gener- 
ally very bad Protestants? Exterminated. 
Bishop Ives, I believe it was, described the 
process of your Indian training exactly, with 
the accuracy of the daguerreotype, when he 
said : " You gave them a few Bibles and tracts, 
and then you exterminated them." 

The accusers of the holy Catholic Church, 
in their inmost hearts, and in the most sacred 
recesses of their consciences, must freely con- 
fess that the fact stated is so. They may seek 
to evade the admission that Protestant faith 
had aught to do with the annihilation of their 
Indians ; but they will not deny the fact that 
they are exterminated. We think their ex- 
termination is the consequence of Protestant 
teaching, and that it is the perfectly natural 



NATURAL REASON. 



237 



and matured result of tlie pecuniary and me- 
chanical standard of divine faith. The same 
result will surely follow wherever and when- 
ever it is applied as a rule of faith to bring 
to immortal life any pagan or savage people. 
In the former part of this section we have 
shown this rule of divine faith contradicts the 
express and positive declarations of the blessed 
Saviour himself. 

In the latter part we have shown it to be 
contradicted, to be utterly untrue, by the 
teaching of history, in the very examples and 
illustrations adduced in support of its truth. 
If these facts and considerations, having their 
foundation in history, reason, experience, and 
common sense, shall tend in any measure to 
excite the attention and arouse the inquiry 
of the accusers of the holy Church to what 
is truth : that system of revealed faith which 
she has ever taught to her children, since the 
blessed Saviour commanded the Apostles to 
teach it forever to all nations ; and shall in 
some degree cause the clamors and denunci- 
ations, ignorantly and without investigation, 
made against her, to cease, then the writer 
will be most happy and thankful to his divine 
Master. 

If these reflections shall tend to quell the 
strange delusions of Protestants as to the faith 



238 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



of Catholics, and to stifle their prejudices 
against the holy faith of his divine Mother, 
then will he owe her and her divine Founder 
everlasting gratitude for making her least 
worthy son a contributor to the extension of 
her veneration among men. He never can, 
whether this occur or not, be sufficiently 
thankful to her for adopting him into her 
faith, after he had for so many years ignorant- 
ly slandered her in words and by actions, and 
had ten thousand times slandered her with 
sentiments and opinions which were profound- 
ly false and foolishly groundless. For these 
crimes against her he is utterly without excuse, 
because her standards of faith were as open 
to him then as now. The profoundly learned 
works of her unequalled scholars, who have 
illumined with light all her ways, and from 
whom, living or dead, he could alone learn 
the beautiful mystery of her divine life, were 
just as easily attainable while he profaned her 
name as they are now. But he desired them 
not. With the universal disposition of con- 
fident ignorance and arrogant folly, he covered 
himself all over with the black pall of preju- 
dice, which shuts out the truth from all minds 
who will not examine the faith of the holy 
Church by the light of her standards and 
living ministry. He is unworthy to be called 



NATURAL REASON. 



239 



her son ; let him be a hired but faithful and 
obedient servant. 

We conclude this section by assuring the 
accusers of the Church that even for material 
blessings, conferred upon the world, her chil- 
dren are not without some large pretensions, 
built upon solid facts. Her children, in those 
much abused ages, " the middle ages," among 
other arts and inventions, gave to the world 
printing, the mariners' compass, gunpowder, 
artillery, spectacles, telescopes, looking-glasses, 
glass windows, bells, organs, the musical scale, 
clocks and watches. The first nse of the print- 
ing-press was to give the Bible, and spread 
it in Latin and the vernacular among the 
people. One of her most devout sons, Chris- 
topher Columbus, discovered America for the 
world. This was some of the work which the 
children of the Church, did for all ti?ne, in the 
gloomy middle ages — or "the dark ages," as 
her accusers are fond of teaching their school- 
boys to characterize them. 

Finally, in this section, we wish to negative, 
in a distinct form, the question made by the 
pecuniary and mechanical test of divine faith 
we have been discussing. The question, then, 
never is, what looms and spinning-jennies, 
and iron foundries, have been invented, erect- 
ed, and successfully operated by any people? 



240 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



but the question always is, what are the facts 
which were contained in the apostolic tradi- 
tions and observances which the blessed Jesus 
had revealed, before the commission, to the 
Apostles ; and by the commission commanded 
them to teach to all nations, even unto the 
consummation of the world, in the midst of 
his being and presence, and with the guidance 
of the Holy Ghost. 



SECTION XII. 

The Governments or Political Constitutions of 
States not the Standard oe Divine Faith. 

The children of the holy Catholic Church 
never gather around their holy Mother with 
more earnest, with more grateful praise and 
thanksgiving for their spiritual maternity, than 
when they come to vindicate her faith from 
a contamination with the doctrines which are 
combated in the present section. Never ! 
And never do these children bow before the 
altars of their Mother, and of their divine 
Saviour, which contain the eucharistic sacri- 
fice, with sentiments of more profound self- 
abasement and mortification for poor, vain, 
and corrupted human nature than when they 



NATURAL REASON. 



241 



prostrate themselves there to obtain light and 
grace and knowledge for the great world of 
heresy to abjure the opinion that political 
governments have any sort of right to inter- 
pret divine faith and to teach divine revelation 
to men: to obtain for this world of heresy, 
grace, mercy, and the knowledge of the truth, 
which, while it will render unto Csesar all that 
is his, — will not, for riches nor poverty, for 
pleasure nor pain, nor for life, nor yet for 
death, yield to him one letter of any thing 
that is God's. State-craft, State-ocrasy, State- 
ology, — in one word, Csesarism, as we shall 
see in the sequel, has always, throughout the 
entire lifetime of the Church, sought to in- * 
fluence and direct, and frequently to usurp, 
the teaching of the divine faith which was 
revealed to and deposited with the Church, 
and which She was commanded to teach all 
nations, to the end of time. In the lifetime of 
the blessed Saviour, the cunning and hypocrit- 
ical demagogues, pertaining to both the church 
and state, began to teach those insidious les- 
sons of craft and blood and robbery which 
have for nearly nineteen centuries character- 
ized, in a marked manner, the clamors of that 
sort of men, who would, if they could, bring 
the political influence and power of the civil 
state to thwart the influence of the teaching 
18 21 



242 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



of divine faith by the Church. In every age 
and every nation, where the Church has plant- 
ed the faith, revealed to her by her divine 
Master, and sought to water it for the perfect 
tion of his glory, she has been met by the hate 
and spite of Caesar's clamorous parasites, who 
have always, when the wickedness of the 
times, and the peculiar character of the peo- 
ple among whom their clamors were raised, 
favored their designs, — excited first prejudice 
against the Church, then bloody persecutions 
against her children. State- craft has spilled 
nearly all the blood of the children of the 
Church which has watered the earth for ages. 
- The pillage and plunder of the Church and 
her children have always been produced by 
the nefarious arts and insidious plots of state- 
craft — by Csesarism. 

Perhaps there are few spots on the earth 
where the Church has, by a careful husbandly 
of the accumulations of ages, amassed treas- 
ures for the poor, in her monastic and ecclesi- 
astical establishments, but at once the cravings 
of Caesar have become insatiable, and he, by 
one artifice and another, and by one after 
another, has incited his parasites and slaves 
to rob the Church and plunder her of the 
patrimony of her poor. The treasury of the 
poor is thus, and has been ever thus, confis- 



NATURAL REASON. 



243 



cated for the base purposes of the basest of 
men, who claim an immunity and pre-emption 
right to defame her when Caesar, for any 
subtle purpose, desires and designs to rob the 
poor, who were, by an especial and peculiar 
confidence of her blessed founder, committed 
to her keeping, for her to have always with 
her. Caesar always clamors in exact accord- 
ance with the character of his own local 
power. 

In the United States it is an unending 
theme of declamation against the Catholic 
Church, that the faith she teaches her chil- 
dren is inimical to republican liberty — to dem- 
ocratical institutions. The theological dema- 
gogues and the political demagogues among 
her accusers, utter and re-utter the charge, 
until their throats swell with the ceaseless 
act, and until many thousands of honest and 
well-meaning persons really come to believe 
that there must be some truth in the accusa- 
tion. In fact it is altogether credible that 
there have been state-ocrats and parasites of 
state-ocrats, who have instituted this clamor 
to effect some insidious design of Caesar upon 
the rights of the people, knowing the baseness 
of its falsehood, who have, nevertheless, them- 
selves, by dint of mere repetition, come to 
believe their own inventions and forgeries. 



244: 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



It is a psychological and moral fact, that the 
continual repetition of what is known to be 
untrue, will occasionally, in some subjects, of 
vigorous mind even, but more vigorous im- 
agination, delude the narrator into the opinion 
that what was known originally to be utterly 
false has finally come to be absolutely true. 
But waiving this as not worth establishing, in 
the present matter, it is certain that many tens 
of thousands, and millions of well-meaning 
persons are both deluded and frightened by 
these wily stratagems of Csesar and his insidi- 
ous parasites. Because it is said by those of 
their sect, they yield credence to the assertion 
without ever, for one short hour, studying 
either the life of the Church, or her teachings, 
or her institutions. Hence millions of honest 
and honorable persons have been deluded by 
trust and misled by confidence, to adopt the 
opinion that the teachings of faith by the 
Church to her children are inimical to liberty 
and to democratic governments. It is no ar- 
gument against the divine right of the Church 
to teach, if it were a fact. If it were as true 
as it is untrue, it would be a most naked and 
most shallow fallacy to urge the fact as a 
reason against the Church's divine authority 
to teach divine revelation, and to put it forth 
as an evidence that her children are misled 



NATURAL REASON. 



245 



when they practise her faith. The Church 
teaches what God has revealed to her — no 
more, no less. And if God has made a reve- 
lation to her, and has commanded her to teach 
it to all nations, even to the consummation 
of the world, which is obnoxious to liberty 
and democracy, as these accusers of hers un- 
derstand them, it is perfectly obvious that no 
guilt attaches to the Church for teaching the 
revelation. It is, moreover, obvious, granting 
the accusation true, as it is false, that no man 
could resist this teaching without rebellion 
against God, to his eternal damnation, even 
though the revelation taught might abolish 
all political liberty and put an end to all 
democratical institutions. Whatever God re- 
veals and commands to be taught, and taught 
catholically — that is, universally — to " all na- 
tions," must be taught by the Church. And 
must be taught without crime; and must be 
taught without being justly obnoxious to the 
censure of any politician, no matter what sort 
of political institutions he may advocate. Is 
there a higher act of shame than to justify 
a politician in impugning a revelation of God? 
Whosoever, then, denies the teaching of the 
Church, and arraigns her spiritual character, 
hecause she teaches doctrines inimical to liber- 
ty and democracy, either questions the veracity 
21* 



246 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



and authority of God, or he totally misunder- 
stands what is liberty and what is democracy. 
This is his dilemma : it is logical and rational : 
it accords with common sense, and is consist- 
ent with our experience. Ko ingenuity can 
escape from the position ; no sophistry, respect- 
able, by reason of its plausibility, can obscure 
its innate and practical clearness. Is the ac- 
cusation against the Church true? In other 
words, has God revealed to mankind a religion 
which is destructive of liberty and demo- 
cratical governments ? It certainly would be 
strange to us, at least, if he had. And if it 
be true, the lifetime of the Church must be 
full of instances in which she exerted her 
spiritual power to crush liberty and to destroy 
democracy. Her life has been, and is, among 
— in the very midst — of all people, speaking 
all languages, and using all manner of politi- 
cal institutions. There is no language but it 
is the vernacular of her children — there has 
been none such since the day of Pentecost. 
There is no civil government of which her 
children are not citizens and subjects — there 
has been none such since the same day of 
earthly glory for the Holy Ghost. And if the 
accusation be a fact, it would be very easy — 
nothing so easy — as to specify in what ages, 
in what nations, and under what circumstances 



NATURAL REASON. 



247 



of cruelty and craft, the Church has destroyed 
liberties and democracies. Every nation on 
earth must have these unlawful acts against 
liberty recorded in its history. So that there 
is not a written language on earth but can 
produce testimony to the fact — if it be a fact. 
But if these histories all omit to state, even, 
this accusation; if the charge can be found, 
neither in the lifetime of the Church nor in 
the lifetime of any people, for fifteen hundred 
years from the promulgation of the faith by 
her, then the clamor is patently false. ISTow 
we affirm that whenever the rights and liber- 
ties of any people have been in jeopardy, by 
tyranny from any quarter where the Church 
has had any influence, that she and her chil- 
dren have exerted that influence on behalf of 
the oppressed and down-trodden ; and in favor 
of liberty and against all tyranny. Let an 
accuser of the Church contest the proposition 
on facts, clear historical facts, well understood 
in their relations to their times. He may con- 
test it, but with no success. We afiirm that 
proposition, then, as one that a combination 
of talents, learning, and honesty, will not con- 
test, upon the well-understood facts of history. 
We afiirm more, and further, that the noblest 
charter of human rights that the world lias 
ever seen wrested from tyranny and feudal 



248 



divinp: faith a^d 



institutions, within eighteen hundred years, 
was forced from a despot by the genius, cour- 
age, and learning of Catholics, under the 
auspices and encouragement of their spiritual 
mother, the Church. And what is more still, 
every principle of liberty in the American 
Constitution which is declaratory of, and which 
conserves the liberties of the American people, 
is a literal transcript in substance, and almost 
in terms, from that Catholic charter of human 
rights of which we now speak. Every Ameri- 
can school-boy is familiar with the old renown 
of Magna Charta, wrung from King John by 
the barons of England. But if Protestant 
school-boys were informed that these " sturdy 
barons," who evinced so much pertinacious 
courage, and political genius, and profound 
insight into the principles on which civil 
liberty depends, and upon which it now lives 
in the United States, were, every one of them, 
Catholics, these same boys would stare at you 
in blank amazement. They have been taught 
to reverence Magna Charta, and to denounce 
the Church as inimical to civil liberty, in the 
same breath. The same school-boy exercise 
that applauds the one to the skies, denounces 
the other to the pit. Hence they cannot 
realize that Catholic barons were the framers 
of Magna Charta. A great wrong has been 



NATURAL KEASON. 



249 



done, is doing, to the understanding and hearts 
of these youths, who are the men of to-morrow. 
Justice has no more been done to the original 
and unperverted judgment and sentiment of 
these men of the future than it has to the 
holy Catholic Church. Both have been griev- 
ously wronged. But the Church is mailed 
in the promises and authority of God, and 
cannot fail ; these youths, these men of the 
future, are clad in no such armor, and hence 
may be deluded forever. God grant that they 
may notf This is one instance in history 
which puts the accusers of the Church to 
bitter confusion, and imposes upon them the 
necessity of producing, at least, another in- 
stance, equally prominent and notable, equally 
engraven in the tracks of time and events of 
men by the chisel of history, in which the 
Church and her children invaded the rights 
and liberties of some one people on the face 
of the earth. Can her accusers do this ? They 
cannot. They can declaim from age to age, 
through volumes upon volumes of general 
assertion and indefinite clamor. But for a 
fact — for a fact they are at a loss, a total loss. 

Indeed, whoever has studied with some at- 
tention the true principles of discussion, the 
logical requirements of fair discussion, where 
facts are in question, will find, in all Prot- 



250 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



estant controvertists, a singular, an amazing 
obliviousness to the force of facts and the 
necessity of facts ; or rather he will find that 
they have made, and do always make, the most 
startling mistakes as to what are facts, when- 
ever they antagonize their opinions against 
the faith of the Church. Whoever has studied 
the Protestant controvertists will find that 
they have made the curious mistake of regard- 
ing opinion and conclusion, no matter from 
whence nor how erroneously derived, as fact 
They regard opinion as fact; and they hold 
the conclusions they derive from their opin- 
ions as securely and as certainly as if these 
were legitimate deductions from real facts. 
They state their opinions as facts, and deduce 
their conclusions from them, against the 
Church, as such, with as much bold confidence 
and flippant utterance as if they had truly 
fixed their premises by the sure fastenings 
of facts — the canons of revealed truth — which 
the Church teaches to her children. It is 
this traditionary opinion, and this traditionary 
mistake of opinion for fact, which causes that 
extraordinary neglect and disregard of the 
standards of the Church to which we referred 
in a former section. Her accusers, under the 
astonishing delusion that their opinions are 
facts, never think of examining the Church's 



NATURAL REASON. 



251 



standards when they come to question her 
faith. This they deem a useless expenditure 
of time and a work of supererogation. For 
they believe, with all the assurance of a tra- 
ditionary opinion, that the notions they now 
hold, which were delivered to them from 
the original Reformers, and from the wonder- 
ful accumulation of opinions their successors 
have gathered together since the Reformation, 
— they believe, we say, with all the assurance 
of a traditionary opinion, that all these notions 
are facts. They believe it. They constantly 
advance and state them, in serious and seem- 
ingly honest and earnest discussion. Indeed, 
we know that many of them are so, while we 
cannot? know how ; for it is impossible for 
us to fathom the curiosity of their being in 
earnest. How it is men can be honestly in 
earnest, and will, through three centuries, per- 
sistently adhere to the traditionary mistake 
that a traditionary opinion, or set of opinions, 
is a fact, is a tissue of error that the Catholic 
mind cannot unravel — he cannot perceive how 
it ever deludes the most easy to be deceived. 
And how this delusion imposes itself upon the 
accusers of the Church, against the constant 
appeal of her teachers and her children to the 
canons of her faith, to the standards of her 
doctrine, is a mystery of error which astonishes 



252 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



the Catholic mind as greatly as does the 
original and persisted-in errors of Millerism, 
Mormonism, or Mohammedanism. Why the 
obstinate neglect, and as amazing as unac- 
countable neglect, to examine the standards 
of the Church, and against their plain teach- 
ings, to insist, and reinsist, iterate and reiter- 
ate, that those traditionary opinions which 
state for facts what the Church's standards 
do not so state, are nevertheless true? This 
is a species of obstinacy, in the adherence to 
a traditionary opinion, which contradicts ob- 
vious facts, that is the most puzzling of all 
the phenomena that any heresy has ever ex- 
hibited in the world's history. Why false 
opinions will not be corrected by a simple 
examination of facts, when the facts are every- 
where attainable, and to be had for the ask- 
ing, is a wonderful curiosity, beyond measure, 
comprehension, or characterization. 

But to return directly to the subject: Those 
who, in the United States of America, vir- 
tually, if not in terms, make the governments 
or political constitutions of states the rule of 
divine faith, have selected the government 
of the United States as the true standard of 
a divinely revealed religion. The constitu- 
tion of the United States was adopted in a. d. 
1787. Those who make it the standard, 



NATURAL REASON. 



253 



would do well to inform the world what po- 
litical government was the rule of divine 
faith anterior to the year of our Lord one 
thousand eight hundred and eighty-seven ! 
This would be an inquiry as puzzling as ab- 
surd. There is the little republic of San 
Marino, the oldest and steadiest to democratic 
principles in the world. It has existed for 
1300 years. It has been for centuries under 
the protectorate of the Pope. It is, and al- 
ways has been, a Catholic republic. But it 
cannot be admitted by the accusers of the 
Church as a standard of divine faith, because 
if they were to admit this little republic as 
the standard, their clamor against the Church 
would have to cease. Pushing this little 
Catholic republic aside, and denying to it the 
faith, as well as the right to be the standard 
of faith, we must, on the political standard, 
leave the world without any rule, we presume, 
until we can get the federal republic of the 
United States recognized as a supreme arbiter 
in matters of faith and conscience. Let us 
then examine her claims to be the supreme 
pontiff of the world. We question her au- 
thority in this matter : we say the constitution 
of the United States is not the standard of 
divine faith; or, if it be, the world was with- 
out any standard for 1787 years, including 

22 



254 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



the age and ministry of the Apostles. This 
dilemma human ingenuity cannot avoid. But 
mark, we are not excusing the Catholic Church 
because she teaches a divine faith in opposi- 
tion to the political constitution of our govern- 
ment. The Catholic Church does not teach 
politics. Her mission and authority is to teach 
alone the spiritual facts, revealed to her by 
the blessed Saviour, — those facts of tradition 
which he commanded her to teach to all na- 
tions, for all time. And we explicitly deny, 
again and again, that these spiritual facts 
which she teaches to her children, tend even 
to the destruction of political liberty, as enun- 
ciated in the constitution of the United States. 
But grant that these revealed spiritual facts 
which she teaches do tend to destroy this kind 
of civil liberty : what then ? Must the Church 
cease to teach? Is her teaching, therefore, 
false? If these political principles are the 
standard of the divine facts, then these conse- 
quences would follow, of course ; but those po- 
litical principles are incapable of testing a di- 
vine fact. The revealed faith must be true, and 
must be taught, if God so commanded, though 
it tended to the overthrow of every political 
government on earth. If God reveal a law, 
and deposit its terms and divine meaning 
with an order of men whom he commands to 



NATURAL REASON. 



255 



teach it to all nations, and always, to the end 
of the world, and this law be contrary to their 
existing — or after-formed — political govern- 
ments, what then? Shall not the revealed 
Word and Law of God prevail over the polit- 
ical law of civil states ? To assnme the con- 
trary is to maintain that the revealed Word 
of God may impose obligations npon the con- 
sciences and lives of men, u provided always" 
the revelation, when made, contains nothing 
which will be in conflict with the constitution 
of the United States, when it shall afterwards, 
in the lapse of eighteen centuries, come to be 
made. This is a blasphemous absurdity. 

But the absurdity reaches much further 
than its immediate blasphemy : if the consti- 
tution of the United States be an infallible 
standard of divine faith, then any revelation 
of our blessed Saviour to the Apostles, a. d. 30 
to a. d. 33, not in accordance with this consti- 
tution, though true — though the infallible 
Word of God, when delivered to them in the 
beginning, became ipse facto false, by the 
adoption of the constitution of the United 
States, a. d. 1787. Every Catholic child can 
thank God, with all the fervency of reason and 
faith, that his Church teaches him no diabolism 
so ridiculous as that is. The Church believes, 
and teaches her children so, that the spiritual 



256 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



facts her divine Founder revealed to her are 
true, and that neither politicians nor political 
constitutions can ever falsify these facts. And 
she firmly believes, and teaches it as infallible 
truth to her children, that the revelations of 
God to men, through the sacerdotal order he 
constituted to teach divine truth, lose no part 
of their original veracity and obligation be- 
cause the framers of political constitutions may 
choose, afterwards, to contradict his word. 
The devout Catholic, who never was other 
than a child of the Church, must pardon these 
horrible expositions of false opinions^ the de- 
vout child of the Church, who has worse than 
lost a great portion of his life in heresy, knows 
full well how needful they are, and how grate- 
ful he would have been if he had met them 
before his life was nearly lost in nursing the 
error thus exposed. The doctrine that politi- 
cal constitutions are the standard of divine 
faith, would lead to the strange absurdity that 
we would be under obligations, under the 
necessity, even, to change divine faith every 
time the State altered the constitution to 
conflict with it : that God must then change 
his word of eternal truth, or else be a liar 
ever afterwards, is an idea so shocking, so 
revolting, that it is wonderful that state-craft 
has not had more insidious cunning than 



NATURAL REASON. 



257 



either openly or covertly to advance it to the 
most corrupt men living under the most vio- 
lent temptation to crime. And it is amazing 
that there ever were men who, under any state 
of circumstances, could be led into delusion 
by such horrible wickedness, no matter how 
plausibly it may have been gilded with sophis- 
try and sin. The eternal Word of God, his 
everlasting truth, would, by this state-craft 
test, be subject to the whims, the caprices, 
the follies, the crimes and selfish schemes of 
ambitious, heartless, and polluted men. Di- 
vine faith, by the state-craft test, would have 
to be revealed in rigid accordance with the 
annual creeds of mass meetings and the plat- 
forms of political conventions ; for these have 
become the received expositors and inter- 
preters of political constitutions. But there 
are always, at least, two of these conventions 
— sometimes half a dozen, each of which de- 
crees a different faith. Among these jarring 
and discordant decrees, how would an infal- 
lible rule of divine faith be ascertained ? By 
the ballot box f That would probably suit the 
two religious persuasions which are the largest 
and pretty evenly matched, in the United 
States, the Methodists and the Baptists. They 
would have a struggle at the polls for the 
supremacy. And the victor would be the 
17 22* 



258 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



arbiter of divine faith, by right of the ballot- 
box, and by virtue of its authority. But what 
would all the other varieties of sects say to 
a political standard of divine faith, so ob- 
tained ? Let us again apologize to the devout 
child of the Church, who was always her 
child. It is with no ordinary pain and con- 
fusion that we accumulate this mass of awful 
absurdities. But the rule of statecraft — the 
political test of divine faith, itself — is of such 
a character that a development and exposure 
of ^ its shocking fallacy cannot be properly 
made without stripping it naked, and exhibit- 
ing its utter, its shameless deformity. But to 
continue : if political constitutions are stand- 
ards of divine faith, and that of the United 
States, became, upon its adoption, the true rule 
of faith, she must show some divine authority 
for claiming hers to be the rule. This is self- 
evident : otherwise other governments will 
not submit to her political teaching of divine 
faith. Wars and revolutions in States will 
ensue, unless some of them can show a divine 
charter to dictate divine faith, by means of 
their political constitutions, to the rest of the 
governments of the world. Have we, in the 
United States of America, any such divine 
charter ? Can we exhibit it to the world, and 
demand their obedience to it because it is 



NATURAL REASON. 



259 



divine, and is divinely revealed to the nations 
that our political constitution is the standard 
of divine faith, to which all political teaching, 
and all religious teaching, must conform ? If 
so, where is this divine charter ? Who keeps 
it? Who is its lawful interpreter — Congress 
or the Supreme Court ? What eternal con- 
demnation shall they suffer who shall disbe- 
lieve in its teaching, and who shall refuse to 
be baptized in its name? But more revolting 
absurdity yet abides in this state-craft test : 
If a political government can in any wise, 
in any degree how remote soever, be the 
standard of divine faith, then, manifestly, that 
political government which was the best at 
the time our blessed Saviour revealed his doc- 
trines, is the true Church, and the only au- 
thorized teacher of divine faith. 

It was to this political government, doubt- 
less, that the faith was committed : this gov- 
ernment is the guardian of the sacred deposit. 
Among all of the then existing governments, 
which was the best ? The patriarchal, the 
tribal, the nomadic, the monarchical, the im- 
perial, or the theocratic? This is a serious 
and difficult inquiry, if divine faith was 
committed to the best form of political gov- 
ernment, to teach to all nations, for all time. 
It is inferred that the believers in state-craft, 



260 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



as a test of divine faith, will insist that the faith 
was committed to the best form of political 
government to teach, because, if it be admitted 
that the most powerful and extensive were 
selected as its teacher, then imperial Rome 
would be the divine teacher of divine faith, 
and not the political government of the United 
States. But, at any rate, the political govern- 
ment of the United States did not then exist. 
Granted, say the accusers of the Church ; but 
may not some federal, democratic, represent- 
ative government have existed — just like it? 
If this be a probable thing, it is for the 
Church's accusers to show, by the history of 
the world, the class of probabilities to which 
they would refer it. But even that will not 
do : they must show the fact, and when they 
have shown the fact, still it will not do; be- 
cause the actual present government of the 
United States is the chosen standard of divine 
faith by those who, in this country, clamor 
against the Church. It is manifest, however, 
that the United States can claim neither the 
natural nor the divine faith to give even politic- 
al laws, much less religious faith, to the world. 
Her government is not natural, it is artificial ; 
it is not divinely revealed, it is conventional. 
It is the result of the combination of human 
opinion, worked out on a good form of a po- 



NATURAL REASON. 261 

litical institution, designed to preserve and 
to perpetuate life, liberty, and property, for 
those who formed it, and for their posterity. 
This combination of opinion is a very different 
thing from each single opinion which made 
up the whole. Its result is very different 
from the matured result of each opinion form- 
ing the combination taken by itself. The 
government of the United States being arti- 
ficial, and not natural, conventional, and not 
revealed, even in the judgment of the Church's 
most embittered and inveterate accusers, it 
is not well perceived how her political gov- 
ernment could be a standard to test any 
natural or any revealed fact. Her govern- 
ment is the result of the policy of men. A 
result in which none of its producers procured 
what he deemed the true and the best govern- 
ment for himself and his children. On the 
contrary, it was a result in which, what each 
individual producer of it thought true and 
best, was qualified by a compromise with 
what every other varying and every other 
differing opinion thought best. ]^"one believed 
it exactly true and perfectly good as a polit- 
ical institution. When it was formed (made), 
none of its makers thought it very good, but 
each one probably thought it was the best 
which could be elicited from the universal 



262 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



clashing of opinions as to what was exactly true 
and really good. It was not adopted as polit- 
ically right, but as politically expedient, and 
also as an experiment. This is its character 
as it came from the hands of that combination 
of human opinion which produced it as a 
political result. In their judgment it was not 
absolutely true, but an experiment; it was 
not absolutely good, but an expedient. To 
make what is confessedly untrue and con- 
fessedly not good, as a political creed, the 
test of what is true in a divine revelation, 
is a stratagem of state-craft, and a scheme 
for a religion, worthy of any and of all the 
Csesars who have persecuted the Church. Let 
the mind rest on this strange and hateful fal- 
lacy — this awful vagary — concerning the di- 
vinely revealed religion. A combination of 
human opinion is made that produces a certain 
result, which is a political expedient and a 
political experiment, which expedient and ex- 
periment no man, whose opinion entered into 
the combination producing it, believed con- 
tained either the true or the best principles 
of a civil government. This institution, so 
produced, has come, at last, in the minds and 
utterances of men, to be a test of the truth of 
that divine revelation which Jesus Christ com- 
mitted to his spouse, the Church, to teach to 



NATURAL REASON. 



263 



all nations forever. In shorter phrase, a po- 
litical expedient enunciating principles not be- 
lieved to be either the true or the best for a po- 
litical government, is made the test of the facts 
of divine revelation. There it is ! in its shocking 
plainness ! Principles not believed to be po- 
litically true, by the enunciators of them, are 
made the tests and guardians of the holy faith 
revealed to the Church for her to perpetuate 
for all time ! Amazing delusion ! And it is 
gravely held that all the divine facts which 
the blessed Saviour revealed to the Church and 
commanded her to teach, which do not accord 
with these political principles, are untrue. 
Though the political principles were believed 
untrue, yet they falsify the divinely revealed 
facts. The facts are untrue because they do 
not agree with what is believed to be false. 
What absurdity will not Caesar and state-craft 
impose upon the children of men for a divine 
revelation? Why is it that " the people" will 
not see that some wonderfully sinister purpose 
is at the foundation of all Caesar's vindictive 
clamor against, and of all his unfounded as- 
persions of, the holy Catholic and Apostolic 
Church ? It is surely time they would inves- 
tigate the basis and hidden reasons which have 
kept alive this clamor and sustained these 
aspersions for three hundred years. If any 



264: 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



State government be natural, it is the patriar- 
chal. But it is not, for it soon degenerates into 
the tribal, when, if it were natural, it would 
not degenerate into any other form, any more 
than the parental government will degenerate. 
The tribal degenerates into petty spoliations. 
These extinguish one another, and on their 
ruin monarchies arise. The monarchial gov- 
ernment is not natural nor yet divine — for no 
man is born a king, and fitted by nature to 
regulate the lives, fortunes, and liberties of 
his fellows, nor are all other men born his 
subjects, and fitted alone, by nature, to do his 
biddings, and to submit to his judgment and 
will as supreme. In other words, no man is 
born politically supreme any more than he 
is born politically infallible. A theocrasy is 
not natural by the very terms and ideas it 
involves, as we learn them from the civil 
policy of the Jews. It is at once immediately 
and directly a government instituted for nat- 
ural men by a supernatural mind. But one 
such government has existed, and its authority 
and offices have been abolished, and a the- 
ocrasy of another kind established upon its 
ruins, to perpetuate such of its principles as 
were divine and eternal. The temporary hu- 
man principles that were involved in the ad- 
ministration of the Jewish theocracy, are all de- 



NATURAL REASON. 



265 



stroyed. This other theocracy, which is erected 
upon the ruins of the old one, is purely and 
simply spiritual ; it has no manner of political 
connection with, nor interest in, nor control 
over, any political government. Nor is it 
subject to the direction and control of any 
political government. Like light in the nat- 
ural order, this spiritual government lives in 
all political governments, and among all men 
of all nations ; but it is no part of any po- 
litical government of any people, any more 
than natural light is a part of the plant 
which lives alone by its presence, or is part 
of the eye which perceives and alone exercises 
its function by its aid. It claims spiritual 
jurisdiction over no political government. As 
such, — as a corporation, — she knows no po- 
litical government. The Church proclaims 
that her kingdom is not of this world, and 
she claims no political jurisdiction over any 
earthly civil power. But she is the spiritual 
teacher of all men, and in this character 
has the right — it is her duty — to reprove any 
government, or rather its administrators, for 
its evident injustices, should these exist ; and 
to require, under the penalty of eternal con- 
demnation, that justice take the place of in- 
justice. She recognizes all lawful govern- 
ments, and teaches her children obedience to 

23 



266 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



their civil commands. She claims and exer- 
cises spiritual jurisdiction to repress the in- 
justices of States, through the power she has 
over their administrations ; for she has power 
over their minds and consciences as her in- 
dividual children, in the character of her chil- 
dren. This is the sphere of her spiritual power 
and authority, and in this she is at once su- 
preme and exclusive ; and here she is as all- 
potent to repress the wrongs of a state as the 
wrongs of an individual child. She allows 
neither man nor his governments any co-or- 
dinate authority with her, within the rightful 
limits of her spiritual supremacy, and her ex- 
clusive authority. To do so would be her 
death, if it were possible for her to do wrong 
and to die. She teaches her children to respect 
and obey the laws of the political state where 
they reside, or happen to be. As the spiritual 
parent of the entire world, she acts the part 
of the natural parent, in the order of the 
family, towards his child, in reference to po- 
litical governments ; she teaches her children 
that they owe to her absolute obedience in 
the spiritual sphere of her teaching ; and they 
owe to the state absolute obedience, in the 
political sphere, in which it regulates and pro- 
tects life, liberty, and property. Just as the 
natural order of the family requires absolute 



NATURAL REASON. 



267 



obedience from his child to his parental au- 
thority ; but at the same time, if he is a good 
citizen or subject, he teaches the child perfect 
obedience to the laws of the state which regu- 
late and protect his life, liberty, and property, 
and which do not usurp any spiritual author- 
ity : so the Church, the spiritual parent of all 
men, teaches them that, in all matters pertain- 
ing to divine faith, they owe absolute obedi- 
ence to her teaching ; but, at the same time, 
she teaches her children that they owe perfect 
obedience to the laws of the state which regu- 
late and protect their lives, their liberties, and 
their properties, when these usurp no spiritual 
authority. The character and teaching of the 
spiritual mother to her children, concerning 
their duty to the state, is a perfect, a consum- 
mately perfect, analogy to the character and 
teaching of the natural father, in the order 
of the family, to his children concerning their 
duty to the same state. The analogy is per- 
fect, and it is the only consummately perfect 
analogy known to the science of men. , It is 
perfect because both its ratios — its resem- 
blances — are from God. In the natural order, 
both the state and the parent are supreme, 
while both confine themselves to the legiti- 
mate exercise of the supreme power confided 
to their administration. There is neither jar 



268 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



nor conflict between them, yet each exercises 
a supreme power over the very same subject. 
But the supremacy confided to each is admin- 
istered within a different sphere of author- 
ity, and it has its foundation in a different 
source of power. The sphere of authority and 
the source of power is different ; but the su- 
premacy over the very same subject of govern- 
ment is perfect, and alike absolute in both. 

These are the relations of the two natural 
orders, namely, the parent and the state, to 
each other. And precisely such are the re- 
lations of the spiritual order to the same state. 
That divine order, the Church, holds the same 
relation to that natural order, the state, ex- 
actly, as the parent of the family, and for the 
same reasons, namely, the sphere of authority 
and source of power is different. Each is 
supreme while it confines itself to the legiti- 
mate exercise of the supreme power confided 
to its administration. The divine order, the 
Church, is supreme as the teacher of the di- 
vine revelation of faith, which Jesus Christ 
committed to its keeping, as a sacred deposit, 
and which he commanded it " to teach all 
nations, even unto the consummation of the 
world ;" that is, to the citizens and subjects of 
all political governments, and to the children 
of each and all their families, to the end of 



NATURAL REASON. 



269 



time. And the natural order, the state, is 
supreme while alone regulating and protecting 
the lives, the liberties, and the properties of 
its citizens or subjects. The revelation of 
Jesus Christ could not have been " to all the 
world " and to " all nations " on any other 
idea; unless, upon a contrary supposition, it 
had been further understood to have been also 
revealed, that all manner of political govern- 
ments, save one, were against the divine faith : 
that all, save one, were sinful institutions, and 
hence to be destroyed, like any other sin, by 
the teaching of the Church. The wrath of 
God is revealed against all unrighteousness. 
But no form of civil government, because of 
the character of its constitution, as tribal, im- 
perial, or democratic, or other form, was ever 
denounced as a sin by any revelation of God. 
Neither has any revelation of his declared any 
form of civil government, because of the char- 
acter of its constitution, as singularly and 
alone fitted to maintain life, liberty, and prop- 
erty for its citizens or subjects. It is thus 
entirely obvious that no conflict for supremacy 
can arise between the Church and the state 
(any more than between the parent and the 
state), so- long as each confines itself to the 
legitimate exercise of the administration of the 
supreme power which pertains to its nature. 



270 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



But the question arises: what if the state 
command the Church to teach for the com- 
mandments of God the doctrines of men ? 
What if the state shall direct that she shall 
deny the faith committed to her keeping, by 
her divine Founder, and that she become the 
minister of a new faith, new sacraments, and a 
new worship, instituted by the legislative en- 
actments of the civil power ? What if some 
state legislature, as the parliament of England, 
enact, that to observe the sacraments the bless- 
ed Saviour instituted is a " corrupt following 

OF THE AFOSTLES ? " 

In the xxv. of the " thirty-nine articles " of 
religion, " as by law established," in England 
(which means, we suppose, a revelation from 
parliament to the people), it is laid down as 
a rule of divine faith that "there are two 
sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in 
the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism and the 
Supper of the Lord." 

" Those five commonly called sacraments, 
that is to say, confirmation, penance, orders, 
matrimony, and extreme unction, are not to 
be counted sacraments of the gospel, being 
such as have grown partly of thk corrupt fol- 
lowing of the Apostles, partly are states of 
life allowed by the Scriptures, but yet have 
not like nature of sacraments with baptism 



NATURAL REASON. 271 

and the Lord's Supper, for they have not airy 
visible sign or ceremony ordained by God." 
Now, we repeat, when the state enacts that 
the Church should teach for the command- 
merits of God the doctrines of men ; and not 
only so, but enacts the severest penalties of 
blood and forfeiture upon her ministers who 
shall not teach that to follow the observances 
of the Apostles is corrupt, — what is the Church 
to do when the state so enacts and commands ? 
This is no new question to the Church; hence 
she is always ready with the answer. Her 
martyrs and confessors have answered it more 
than a thousand thousand of times, and alwaj^s 
in the same manner; the substance of the 
answer being expressed in these terms, col- 
lated by St. Ambrose from the Saviour, with 
a brief addition of his own : " If," he says, 
" the emperor demands tribute, we do not 
refuse it ; the Church lands pay tribute. We 
render to Ocesar 'the things that are Cmsar's^ 
and to God the things that are God's. Tribute 
belongs to Ccesar / we pay it: but the Church 
belongs to God ; certainly it cannot be given 
to Caesar."* 

Nero, a. d. 64, propounded to the Church 
the preceding interrogatory, and she obeyed 



Serm. contra Auxentium. 



272 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



God rather than man ; she returned the answer. 
She suffered, for her obedience to God, the 
penalty inflicted by the tyrannical and usurp- 
ing power of the state. Her children were 
fed to wild beasts in the amphitheatre; they 
were stuck full of lighted fagots and made to 
walk the streets of Home, moving, living, 
intelligent torches. They were burnt at the 
stake, sawn into two, torn asunder, ripped up 
with the sword, put to death by every instru- 
ment of torture that a ferocious age and a 
diabolical ingenuity could invent. And they 
prayed for their wrong-doers while they suf- 
fered their wrongs. 

Such was the response of the Church to 
]STero. Domitian, a. d. 96, propounded the 
same interrogatory to the Church ; and he re- 
ceived the (same) answer. Trajan, a. d. 107, 
again propounded it; and again the Church 
made the answer. Lucius Yerus and Marcus 
Aurelius, a. d. 169, propounded it again; and 
again the answer was given. Severus, a. d. 
202, asked the same question; and received 
the answer. Maximius, a. d. 230, asked the 
question ; and again the answer was given. 
Decius, a. d. 252, demanded of her again ; and 
again she gave the answer. Valerian, a. d. 
257, made the same question; and she made 
the answer. Aurelian, a. d. 270, put the ques- 



NATURAL REASON. 



273 



tion; and then she gave the answer. Diocle- 
tian, a.d. 286, made the same question ; and the 
Church, for the tenth time, gave the answer. 
This tenth persecution lasted until Constan- 
tine, the first Christian emperor, a. d. 31tt, put 
an end to it. The one answer the Church 
gave the state, in her first ten bloody, remorse- 
less, horrid persecutions, through a period of 
two hundred and fifty years, for obeying God 
rather than man, is the very answer she al- 
ways gave the state when it enacted laws — 
made decrees — contrary to divine revelation, 
and commanded her to teach for the com- 
mandments of God the doctrines of men. She 
never had another answer to the interrogatories 
of Anti-Christ, when he governed the state; 
and she never will have another. When Eng- 
land reformed, then she persecuted the spouse 
of Christ a little longer, and with more subtle- 
ty and refinement of cruelty than did Pagan 
Rome. When she demanded, in her refor- 
matory acts of religion, enacted by the parlia- 
ments of Henry and Edward, and Elizabeth, 
that the Church should denounce the observ- 
ances of the Apostles as corrupt, the holy 
spouse of Christ returned the one response 
that she had made ten times to the Caesars 
of Rome. The intelligent reader who desires 

to be well informed, from Protestant author- 
is 



274 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ity, how bloody, how infamously refined (so 
to speak), and diabolically subtle, Csesar, in 
England, persecuted the Church, can be satis- 
fied by turning to the works of Edmund 
Burke, an immortal statesman and political 
philosopher. In vol. v., Little & Brown's 
edition of his works, in nine volumes, pub- 
lished in 1839, page 237, will be found some 
papers called "Tracts relative to the Laws 
against Popery in Ireland." See also Sidney 
Smith's Essays, title, " Catholics," p. 62 ; id., 
p 253; id., Title, "Memoirs of Capt. Kock," 
p. 338. These tracts consist of a naked state- 
ment of the fearful enactments (facts) contained 
in these persecuting laws. The candid and 
humane Protestant will be at once amazed, 
ashamed, and burning with indignation, to 
find that the people who have taught him, 
through their fabulous histories of wildest for- 
geries against the Church, that the Church 
was a persecutor, are the very people whose 
parliamentary records are bloated with statutes 
upon statutes, stuffed with robbery, forfeiture, 
and death against the children of the Church, 
which Nero's edicts, and those of his nine 
fearful successors, can by no means parallel. 
Pagan skill, in this respect, is put to the blush 
by the remorselessness of the apostates of the 
faith* One moment of reflection ought to fill 



NATURAL REASON. 



275 



every Protestant's mind in America, in the 
world, with the assurance that every word he 
has been taught by English histories about 
the Church's persecution is as false as it can 
be shown to be insidious and interested. That 
one moment's reflection simply amounts to this, 
that for three hundred years — the period cover- 
ed by these histories, with perhaps an excep- 
tion of five or seven years — the government 
of Great Britain, in all its departments, has 
been in the hands of Protestants, and that no 
Catholic could huld any civil office within the 
realm, any more than he could freely enjoy 
the exercise of his religion. This little reflec- 
tion of one moment is a complete vindication 
of the Church against all the aspersions of 
all English historians upon her character, con- 
cerning persecutions. But to come back from 
this digression : "What answer did the Church 
give to England, who has so polluted human 
opinion with her false histories, when she 
reformed and forthwith and thenceforth, for 
three hundred years (and, to some extent, even 
to this day) persecuted the Church? The very 
same that she gave imperial Pome from Nero 
to Constantine. She responds to Caesar every- 
where in the same language.. She would not 
deny the faith, but chose, as she always will, 
to suffer all the bloody penalties that tyrants 



276 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



and usurpers could inflict upon her faithful 
children for obedience to God rather than to 
man. In no age or country has she done 
otherwise; in no age can she do otherwise. 
These facts and considerations show, conclu- 
sively, that the United States, in virtue of 
their political constitution, have no natural 
and no divine right to teach divine faith ; and 
they also show that her constitution is not 
the standard of divine faith. And in conclud- 
ing against the government of the United 
States, we have necessarily established the su- 
preme folly of the idea that any form of 
political government can be a standard of 
divine faith. The task has not been laborious, 
but, from the nature of the case, it has been 
very disgusting. Since the institution of 
Christianity, how often would the Church 
have had to change the truth of God into 
a lie, if political governments were the stand- 
ards of divine faith % Not a government exists 
now which then existed. The Roman Empire, 
the then political world, has long since fallen 
to pieces. For long ages she has been broken 
into contemptible fragments — has been ex- 
tinguished. Many dynasties were constructed 
from her ruins. These have, in their turn, 
perished, and other, and comparatively mod- 
ern, kingdoms have been established upon 



NATURAL REASON. 



277 



their remains. Peril, change, turbulence, 
spoliations — every species of bloody violence 
and cruel craft, even detestable adultery and 
incest have marked the several governments, 
as they successively arose and exercised their 
terrible functions and perished. In the name 
of that reason — that common sense, that ex- 
perience, all so much appealed to against the 
Church — we ask, where was the standard of 
divine faith, in the midst of this universal 
scene of corrupt life and violent death to po- 
litical governments, if their constitutions were 
the standard ? 

Political parsons and demagogue politicians, 
who are always keen parasites of Caesar, when 
inciting him to such crafty and insidious per- 
secutions against the Church as the present 
age and this country can be set upon, — to such 
as a deluded opinion will tolerate, — do not care 
to look into the insanity of indecency, the 
blasphemy, the criminal folly and absurdity, 
of making political constitutions the standards 
of divine faith, and from thence deducing 
against the Church the accusation that she is 
hostile to civil liberty and federal democracy.* 

ft See "The American Citizen," pp. 84-88, by John Hen- 
ry Hopkins, D.D., LL.D., Protestant Bishop of Vermont. 

See Rev. R. J. Breckenridge in debate with Bishop 
Hughes. 

24 



278 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



If our conception of tins accusation be just, 
and if our exposure of its character be true, 
we think it may be considered as another 
added to the dead defamations of the holy 
Catholic Church. It is, at least, to be hoped 
that reason and common sense will so far 
prevail among men that we will never more 
hear of tins accusation, conceived by the con- 
trivers of state-craft to excite Caesar to for- 
feiture, robbery, and blood, and to screen him 
from the moral consequences of his nefarious 
crimes. If religion, in the form and spirit 
it lives among the Church's accusers, cannot 
silence the crafty flatterers of the emperor, 
then we confidently appeal to the reason and 
the common sense of intelligent and candid 
men. 

In the beginning of this section we remarked 
that it would appear in the sequel that state- 
craft — that Csesar, throughout the entire life- 
time of the Church — had sought to influence 
and direct, and frequently to usurp, the teach- 
ing of the divine faith which Christ revealed 
to the Church alone, and commanded her 
alone to teach forever. This has all along 
incidentally appeared. And this section has 
already been so much extended that we can- 
not, directly, elaborate the fact as we desired 
and expected, when we began to vindicate the 



NATURAL KEASON. 



279 



Church from Caesar's aspersions. "We must 
be content with merely pointing to two or 
three instances in the ministry of the blessed 
Saviour and Apostles. In Matt. xvii. 24-27, 
we read, " And when they were come to 
Capernaum, they that received tribute money 
came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master 
pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he 
was come into the house, Jesus prevented 
him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of 
whom do the kings of the earth take custom 
or tribute ? of their own children or of stran- 
gers ? Peter saith unto him, of strangers. 
Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children 
free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend 
them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, 
and take of the fish that first cometh up ; and 
when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt 
find a piece of money : that take, and give 
unto them for me and thee." In Matt. xxii. 
15-21, we read, "Then went the Pharisees 
and took counsel how they might entangle 
him in his talk. And they sent into him their 
disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, 
we know that thou art true, and teachest the 
way of God in truth, neither carest thou for 
any man ; for thou regardest not the person of 
men. Tell us, therefore, what thinkest thon, 
is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not. 



280 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and 
said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? Show 
me the tribute money. And they brought 
him a penny. And he saith unto them, "Whose 
is this image and superscription? They say 
unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, 
Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which 
are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are 
God's." In the Acts, xvii. 5-8, we find as fol- 
lows : " But the Jews which believed not, 
moved with envy, took unto them certain 
lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered 
a company, and set all the city on an uproar, 
and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought 
to bring them (SS. Paul and Silas) out to the 
people. And when they found them not, they 
drew Jason and certain brethren unto the 
rulers of the city, crying, These that have 
turned the world upside down are come 
hither also ; whom Jason hath received : and 
these all do contrary to the decrees of Ccesar, 
saying that there is another king, one Jesus. 
And they troubled the people and the rulers of 
the city, when they heard these things." The 
minions of Caesar here exhibit three character- 
istics, which have ever since, in every suc- 
cessive mob or insurrection they have incited 
against the Church, marked them deeply and 
indelibly ; every persecution of the Church 



NATURAL REASON. 



281 



has engraven upon it these same three dia- 
bolical foot-prints of Satan — the ineffaceable 
traceries of hell. These three engravings of 
Satan, characterizing — branding all Caesar's 
minions, are, first, an accusation against the 
Church that her children are mobocrats and 
insurrectionists : " These that have turned the 
world upside down are come hither also." 
Secondly, on their own malignant falsehood, 
they excite, in the name of Caesar, a mob and. 
insurrection, of their own, to persecute the 
Church of Christ, instituted by his Apostles, 
in obedience to his command. Thirdly, this 
greatly troubles honest men, who have no 
sinister purposes to accomplish by falsehoods 
and mobs or insurrections : "And they troubled 
the people and the rulers of the city, when 
they heard these things." These three brands 
are indelibly burned, deeply, into the flesh 
of every persecutor of the Church, who ap- 
peals to Caesar for the rectitude of his inten- 
tions, from the Pharisees who tempted Christ 
concerning the lawfulness of tribute, down 
to the last motion in the British parliament 
by the Hon. Mr. Spooner, and the last act 
of persecution in a Boston district school, in 
the State of Massachusetts. And they will 
characterize the last act of persecution by 
Caesar's slaves that shall intervene between 

24* 



282 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



the present writing and the day of the final 
consummation of all things. 

Finally, we negative the affirmative of the 
question made by state-craft ; we conclude with 
an issue to Csesar. We deny, then, that the 
question ever is, what does the state — what 
does Csesar teach and tolerate ? And we 
maintain, on the contrary, that the question 
always is, what were the facts of divine faith 
contained in the traditionary revelations which 
the blessed Jesus had, before his ascension, 
committed to, deposited with, the Apostolic 
Church, and which he, at his ascension, com- 
manded it to teach all nations, to the end of 
the world. This is always the question ; that 
other is an untruth in its very essence and 
nature, and cannot be sanely propounded in 
reference to a divinely revealed religion. It 
is false in all its applications as a test of the 
sacred deposit of divine faith, which the 
Church has always taught, and cannot be tol- 
erated as a standard of this faith by rational 
and devout inquirers after the truth which 
pertains to eternal life. 



NATURAL REASON. 283 



SECTION XIII. 

The Senses of Tasting, Smelling, Seeing, and Touch- 
ing NOT THE STANDAEDS OF DlVINE FAITH ; NOK 

essential or mateuial elements entering into the 
Rule, and constituting either its substance or 
its validity, as a Criterion of Divine Truth in 
Revelation. Hearing is the Organ of Faith. 

The senses of tasting, smelling, seeing, and 
touching are not standards of divine faith : 
nor are they either essential or material 
elements of the rule, entering into it, and 
constituting its substance or validity, as a 
criterion of divine truth in revelation ; but 
hearing is the organ of faith. 

That the accusers of the holy Church should 
ever have made the senses, which we negative 
as such, a rule of divine faith, in any manner 
or in any degree, is but another revival of the 
practical and philosophical fact that error, 
when once instituted, as a principle of faith and 
action, will work out its own tendencies, how 
terrible soever these may be, and how aston- 
ishingly foolish soever they may be : That 
error, however slight, and how little soever 
variant from truth and justice, in its original 
apostasy from these, contains within itself, as a 



284 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



part of its real nature and absolute essence, 
crime and folly, which as they gradually un- 
fold themselves from their native tendency, 
develop pernicious weakness, absurd wicked- 
ness, and horrid crime. 

That the accusers of the Church should have 
made the four (negatived) senses a Rule of 
divine faith ; should have appealed to them 
as, in any manner, interpreters of divine 
truth, illustrates the trite truth, that once 
begin to believe and do wrong, however small 
the fault, and there is no foreseeing to what 
ultimate and terrible wickedness it will lead. 
What is there, in these four senses that gives 
them their 'power to delude the human mind 
with the notion that they are criterions of 
truth in divine revelation ? Nothing, — mani- 
festly nothing. Their nature and office, 
seemingly, have not any tendency either to 
beget, develop, or perpetuate such a delusion. 
The truth is, this amazing deception does not 
exist in them ; but it exists in the original error 
of apostasy from the Faith ; in its birth, or in 
some of the successive states of its remarka- 
ble developments. Put these four senses in 
affirmative, predicative juxtaposition with 
divine faith or revelation : " I taste a divine 
truth or revelation ;" " I smell a divine truth or 
revelation ;" "I see a divine truth or re vela- 



NATURAL REASON. 



285 



tion ;" " I touch a divine truth or revelation." 
Is there not something shockingly unholy and 
gross in the immorality of such averments ? 

It is said in the written word, " Faith cometh 
by hearing, and hearing by the word of 
God." This is a revealed fact, in accordance 
first, with the necessary relation of things, so 
far as human powers can perceive them. God 
speaketh : His word is heard ; and when heard 
it is believed. This is Faith, without which it 
is impossible to please God. Next, it is in 
accordance with our limited experience, and 
all our faculties which cognize any of our 
knowledge. We derive, comparatively, all our 
knowledge through hearing. Divine revela- 
tion, certainly, was not made to the four senses 
which we have negatived as rules of divine 
faith. Taste, smell, touch, and sight were not 
the recipients of divine revelation ; and from 
their nature, and the nature of revelation, it 
would seem an impossible thing, naturally 
speaking, that they could be. All the fitness 
of natural things, at least, is destroyed, when 
these senses are made the recipients of divine 
revelation. It was not adapted to any of 
these four senses. It is no part of the Christian's 
duty to ask why ? 

Their incapacity to recognize words and 
perpetuate spoken truth, is a material and 



286 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



sufficient one. Every one who has taken pains 
to study the sources of his knowledge, with 
any care, has plainly perceived these senses 
have very little — (none comparatively, if abso- 
lutely any) — relation to the intellectual, moral, 
and religious powers in man. Hence it is said 
that Faith cometh by hearing. This seems so 
clearly and profound a necessity, in the nature 
of things, naturally and spiritually, that if it 
had not been virtually denied, we could not 
imagine how it could ever be questioned. We 
believe in the miraculous conception, life, death, 
and resurrection of our Saviour, — not because 
taste, smell, touch, and sight, attest their truth 
or give us any knowledge of them as facts. 
And so it is for every spiritual fact revealed to 
man, concerning his relations to the supernat- 
ural world, and concerning his eternal destiny. 
And so it is for every natural and contempo- 
raneous fact, which we know ; but which we 
have not tasted, touched, seen, or smelled, — and 
cannot. We believe in the future life, in 
heaven (not from any information given us by 
these four senses, nor from any attestation or 
corroborative sanctity they give to the fact), 
after it has been made known to us, through 
the organ of Divine Faith — which is hearing. 
Faith teaches us all we know of our future 
destiny, and faith cometh by hearing. 



NATURAL REASON. 



28T 



The Divine "Word was revealed to hearing 
from necessity, as we have said. Man had no 
other sense to which the Revelation could be 
addressed without a total change of his physi- 
cal constitution. Words cannot be smelled, 
tasted, touched, or seen. Hence, we hear the 
word of God. It may be, — indeed it is so 
without doubt — that hearing is the most digni- 
fied and spiritual of all our senses ; and 
therefore the relation between it and divine 
faith. Hearing is, beyond question, the least 
sensual, the farthest removed from animalism, 
of all our senses. The excessive indulgence of 
the other senses has an immediate tendency to 
imbrute man. But it is not perceived that 
there is any such immediate tendency to bru- 
talize him by any use we can make of our 
hearing. If we distinguish an excessive use 
from an improper use, it is not easy to define 
or imagine what, in strictness, would be an 
excessive indulgence of the sense of hearing. 
But waiving this distinction, and yielding what 
we have no desire to doubt, and will not allow 
to be questioned ; namely, that when the sense 
of hearing is indulged in presenting to the 
mind impure images, and bad and unholy 
thoughts, through the instrumentality of 
words, that then it is in excess, and that this 
excess tends to corrupt man, — still its brutali- 



288 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



zing tendencies are not so positive and imme- 
diate as is the excessive indulgence of the 
other senses. 

It being more noble, of course it cannot be 
so readily degraded ; being more spiritual, it 
cannot so easily be brutalized. The other senses 
are so peculiarly animal — so utterly destitute 
of all spirituality, so wanting in kindred with 
the higher parts of our being ; namely, the 
intellectual, the moral, and the religious, that 
it may be well questioned whether they are, 
at all, channels of communication, for any 
eternal purpose, leading to these departments. 
So far as human capacities can judge, that 
judgment is against the belief that they are. 
Hearing is at all events, and without any ques- 
tion, supreme in spiritual aptitudes and power 
among the senses. Its realization of spoken 
truth and its recognition of its sources, are 
exertions of rightful authority from which 
there is no appeal but to the reality of the 
voice of God. When, on such an appeal, fraud 
and delusion and mistake are excluded from 
the elements of the case in hand ; and the 
sense of hearing, after eliminating these, rec- 
ognizes really and truly the voice of God ; 
then her teaching is supreme, her realization 
is infallible ; — it is God's word. Hearing 
thus teaches us the divine word with infal- 



NATURAL REASON. 



289 



lible certainty, even against the solemn protest 
of all the other senses ; provided they could 
be so absurdly pretentious as to ignore their 
own nature and fundamental organization 
and practical constitution, as to assume either 
to teach or interpret the words of a divine 
revelation ; or any other words teaching man 
any important relations which he sustains to 
the natural or supernatural worlds. " Faith 
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word 
of God :" So that whatever God by his 
word, reveals to man is credible without re- 
gard to the recognition and realization, — in a 
word to the teaching of the other senses. 
These (other) senses have no power to teach 
words. And if they had, God never gave 
them authority to teach his word : his divine 
revelation of traditionary faith, which he 
commanded the Church to teach to " all 
nations, even unto the consummation of the 
world." These words at least, were not seen, 
nor smelled, nor touched, nor tasted. So that 
faith in God must be through the organ of 
faith, and must not be on the testimony of 
any, nor of all, the other four senses. These 
four senses, must not come and attest to the 
soul that God has not spoken, when he has 
uttered his voice. And, moreover, these 
senses must not come and assume to eorreot 

19 



290 



PIVINE FAITH AND 



the word of God, as realized and recognized, 
by hearing when there is no dispute about 
the fact of a revelation ; but only a question 
as to what the revelation means; and this 
dispute gotten up by these four senses them- 
selves. They cannot interpret the meaning of 
words for hearing. They are not organized 
for the recognition of words. Their nature is 
wholly unfit for, and entirely unendowed 
with any power to realize or interpret any 
language, — let alone the language of divine 
revelation and faith. If taste, touch, smell, or 
sight may assume supremacy to pronounce 
against the word of God, and against the 
authority of his Apostolic Church in teaching 
it, they are certainly usurping an authority 
not given to them in the natural order ; and 
more surely still, such power as they have no 
right to exercise in the spiritual order. They 
were not made to perform or to interpret the 
office and functions of the ear in the natural 
order. From whence do they derive such 
authority in the spiritual and the supernat- 
ural ? And this against the di vine declaration 
that " Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing 
by the word of God." 

It is thus manifest that neither in the nat- 
ural nor in the supernatural orders have those 
senses any right to reveal or to interpret lan- 



NATURAL REASON. 



291 



guage. They have no authority to instruct 
us whether or not there be any language, 
much less to decide upon its consistency with 
reason, and to determine its coincidence with 
common sense, or to fix its correspondence 
with truth by any other criterion. For in- 
stance, God has either revealed to the holy 
Mother Church the "Real Presence " or he has 
not. This sacrifice, daily offered on all her 
altars, where there is a priest to make the 
holy offering was, one of the traditionary 
facts which the blessed Saviour commanded 
this Church to teach and observe forever ; or 
it was not one of those facts which he had 
revealed to her before, and commissioned her 
to teach at his ascension. And if this institu- 
tion of the eucharistic sacrifice was not re- 
vealed to his Church, by the Saviour, among 
those traditionary facts of faith he commanded 
her to teach ; then this " Mystery of faith" is 
untrue, a fabrication, a falsehood. We say 
God has either revealed the faith and mystery 
of the " Eeal Presence " in the daily eucha- 
ristic sacrifice or he has not. But whether 
he has or not, depends upon his word : 
and this can neither be seen, smelled, touched, 
nor tasted. This fact depends upon the word 
of God ; and not upon any lessons these four 
senses teach us. The words of the institu- 



292 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



tion, by which the faith and mystery were 
revealed to the Church, are : — " And as they 
were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, 
and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and 
said, Take, eat ; this is my body. And he 
took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to 
them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; for this is 
my blood of the new testament, which is shed 
for many for the remission of sins." Matt, 
xxvi. 26-28. St. Paul, in 1 Cor. xi. 23-27, 
states the words of institution as follows : 
" For I have received of the Lord that which 
also I delivered unto you, that the Lord 
Jesus the same night in which he was be- 
trayed took bread; and when he had given 
thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat ; 
this is my body, which is broken for you: 
this do in remembrance of me. After the 
same manner also he took the cup, when he 
had supped, saying, This cup is the new 
testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as 
ye drink it, in remembrance of me : for as 
often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, 
ye do show the Lord's death till he come : 
wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and 
drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall 
be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." 
Verse twenty -ninth reads : " For he that 
eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and 



NATURAL REASON. 



293 



drinketh damnation to himself, not discern- 
ing the Lord's body." In the sixth chapter 
of St. John's Gospel, the blessed Saviour 
fully prefigured and identified this institution 
and its elements. Among other most unmis- 
takable things, he (48-51) says : " I am that 
bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna 
in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the 
bread which cometh down from heaven 
that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am 
the living bread which came down from 
heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, he 
shall live forever ; and the bread that I 
will give is my flesh, which I will give for 
the life of the world." The Jews murmured 
at this, and he reiterated it with renewed 
positiveness and distinctness, so that thereafter 
there should be no mistake about the words, 
nor yet about their meaning. As soon as they 
murmured their objection to his sacred word, 
in ver. 53-58, he repeated : " Then Jesus said 
unto them, Yerily, verily, I say unto you, ex- 
cept ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and 
drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 
"Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my 
blood, hath eternal life ; and I will raise him 
up at the last day. For my flesh is meat in- 
deed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that 
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, 

25* 



294 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living 
Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father ; 
so he that eateth me, even he shall live by 
me. This is the bread which came down from 
heaven ; not as your fathers did eat manna, 
and are dead ; he that eateth of this bread 
shall live forever." 

Will the accusers of the holy Mother Church 
now explain how smell and touch and sight 
and taste get any authority from reason and 
common sense and experience to contradict 
the word of God just quoted, which is so 
clear in its terms, and so explicit in its cir- 
cumstances, and so manifest by the occasions 
of its utterance? Not to interpret it as the 
Church which heard it does, and to interpret 
it as her accusers do, who did not hear it, is 
to contradict itself. Now, this is the Word 
of God from which faith cometh. To contra- 
dict is, not to believe. If faith believes the 
Word of God, the faith and mystery of the 
" Real Presence " was revealed to the Church. 
If the sense of hearing is allowed to be the 
authority for what was revealed, when God 
is admitted, by the Church's accusers, to have 
spoken ; the Church cannot be mistaken in 
taking him at his word. Is it not blasphe- 
mous to assert the contrary, even if hearing 
were not the only and the infallible sense to 



NATURAL REASON. 



295 



which the revelation was made ? Yet men 
do contradict the Church in her teaching that 
the very Word of God is true, which he has 
thus distinctly spoken in his commemorative 
institution. Men professing to be Christians 
do it. Yea, more, there are men professing 
to be Christians who contradict the Church 
when she teaches these very words of God 
to be true, who yet claim that their faith is 
built alone upon the (written) Scriptures. The 
accusers of the Church, who will not allow 
that any thing more was revealed by the bless- 
ed Saviour to her than what, in the opinion 
of their own sect, is to be found in the Gos- 
pels and Epistles, denounce her for teaching 
her children that the Word of God, in the 
institution, is true, as heard. The accusers of 
the Spouse of Christ, who deny that the Lord 
Jesus revealed to the holy Mother Church 
(when he commissioned her to teach to u all 
nations " " all things whatsoever he had com- 
manded," to the end of the world) any thing 
more than their construction of the written 
Word says is reasonable, is consonant to their 
common sense, is consistent with their experi- 
ence, — these same accusers charge this holy 
Mother, who heard the words of revelation 
she was commanded to perpetuate forever, with 
folly and idolatry, because she believes the 



296 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



words she heard spoken to her, to be a fact, 
to be and to mean what was said to her. She 
is told she violates reason, usurps common 
sense, and contradicts all experience, when she 
instructs her children that the Word spoken 
to her and given to her keeping to teach 
forever, is true, and cannot be contradicted 
without crime. These tests of a divine faith 
we have before considered. Now, as before 
written, God, by his Word, revealed the faith 
and mystery the Church teaches her children 
in the eucharistic sacrifice, or he did not. As 
the Word of God is the test (and none can 
be so sure), we may, by simply hearing the 
Word, erect our faith on infallible and divine 
authority. We cannot be mistaken : this is 
my body; this is my blood. The Church 
understands by this Word, and teaches her 
children so, exactly what was said when the 
terms of it were spoken in her hearing. She 
understands the Word to be what was said 
to her — what she heard when it was uttered 
first and alone, because the Word of God is 
infallible against all the human senses, and 
all the testimony of the human mind, if it 
were possible for all the testimony of the 
human mind, when healthily exercised, to con- 
tradict the Word of God. When God is so 
contradicted, the mind is morally and pro- 



NATURAL REASON. 



297 



foundry diseased which makes the contradic- 
tion. For let it never be forgotten that the 
holy Mother Church heard (because they were 
spoken to her) the words of institution which 
she was commanded to teach and observe ; 
that she understood them, that she cannot 
mistake them, that it is a fact of reason, 
secured by a distinct promise of God, that she 
could never, and can never forget them, nor 
cease to practise their true meaning. Let this 
never be forgotten. Let this never be forgot- 
ten. Let this never be forgotten. If you teach 
nothing else to them, teach this diligently to 
your children. And because she heard these 
words when they were spoken to her ; and be- 
cause she understood them; and because the 
Holy Ghost was sent to her, in fulfilment of a 
divine promise, to keep her in remembrance of 
them, so that she could always state them just 
as they were originally uttered to her and in 
her hearing without any mistake ; and because 
her practice and observance of it was in exact 
accordance with the divine intention and in- 
struction, — she therefore believes the terms in 
which the eucharistic sacrifice was revealed and 
commanded to be taught and observed to be 
true, to be a reality ; and she does not believe 
they are tropes in a rhetorical exercise. The 
institution of this sacrifice was not an occasion 



298 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



for an ostentatious exhibition of rhetorical 
accomplishments. The Church never thought 
so; and she teaches her. children that her 
divine Master meant what he said, and was 
not, for a mere display of oratory, exciting 
discontent among the Jews : that he was not 
uttering " a hard saying" in hyperboles mere- 
ly to embellish a statement which was untrue 
in itself. She teaches her children that her 
divine Master did not gild and polish with 
rhetorical varnish statements of instruction, 
to organize this institution, which statements 
were false and the instruction deceptive. She 
believes, and teaches her children to believe 
his Word on the veracity of. God alone; for 
she knows there was neither fraud, nor de- 
lusion, nor mistake, nor yet rhetorical decep- 
tion, in the matter of this revelation of this 
sacred sacrifice. She knows it was the Word 
of God in reality which she heard. Indeed, 
no one of her accusers has ever disputed that 
there was in fact a revelation to the holy 
Mother Church of this institution, by the bless- 
ed Saviour. But her modern ones, at least, 
impeach her understanding of what was spo- 
ken to her. They modestly affirm that she 
did not comprehend her divine Spouse, and 
that she mistook his meaning and intention 
in the utterances of his divine command. 



NATURAL REASON. 



299 



They accuse the holy Mother Church of mis- 
interpreting his teachings to her, in the or- 
ganization of this holy institution. And they 
do not hesitate to aggravate the accusation 
by averring that for fifteen hundred years of 
her lifetime, — yes, for her whole life — she not 
only failed to understand him, and to fulfil 
his command, but that she actually organized 
a system of folly and idolatry instead of the 
divine institution he commanded her to or- 
ganize, and which he intended to instruct her 
to organize !!! The Church believes not so — 
she teaches not so. She believes the Word 
of God on his veracity alone. She will not 
allow human rhetoric, with its hyperboles, its 
tropes — nor with any of its figures — to con- 
tradict her divine Master. Hence it is that, 
first, and alone, and forever, she believes the 
"Word of God to be infallible against all hu- 
man sense ; and on his veracity alone. 

But, secondly, the Church may believe, and 
teach her children, that the Word of God is 
true, as spoken to her, because the appropriate 
sense to which the revelation was made, and 
that sense from which divine faith cometh, 
cannot understand the uttering of his voice 
in any other way. His language is meaning- 
less, if another sense than hearing be allowed 
to contradict it and the voice of God at once. 



300 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



If another sense be allowed to interpret, even, 
the voice of God, then his voice and the voice 
of nature both are snperseded. For nature, 
in her power to hear, her sense recognizing 
voice, is stigmatized as strongly and directly 
as the holy Mother Church, in these accusa- 
tions against her pnrity and holiness and au- 
thority. Hearing cannot understand the voice 
— Word of God — in any other way than the 
way the Church teaches. And if error had 
never called any other sense to teach and 
interpret the divine Word than hearing — by 
which faith cometh — she never could have 
seduced men to discredit the teaching of the 
holy Catholic Church. That sense with which 
God endowed us to recognize and understand 
sound — voice — language — had to be discredit- 
ed before the Church could be discredited. 
Have her accusers looked this fact in the face? 
Before error, in any of its forms, can discredit 
the teaching of the holy Church to her chil- 
dren, it has to betray men into the belief that 
taste can teach the divine Word — that touch 
can teach it — that sight can teach it — that it 
can be taught by the smell; or that these 
four senses can combine their natural capaci- 
ties so as to teach it, and contradict the Church 
in the act. Is not this a violation of the entire 
order of nature, as exhibited in human endow- 



NATURAL REASON. 



301 



ments ? Is it not overturning and totally 
changing the uses and functions of those or- 
ganic elements of our nature we call sight, 
smell, taste, and touch? And if it he, then 
it is not the Church which teaches men a faith 
contrary to their senses. Her accusers are 
they who teach men so. Will they also look 
this fact calmly and candidly in the very eye 
of its necessity and truth ? The Church teaches 
her children strictly in accordance with the 
principles of nature, in the natural order, and 
in accordance with the " natural fitness " of 
things. But she does not teach nature, nor 
the principle of nature, in the natural order ; 
nor yet the natural fitness of things in this 
order. She teaches the Word of God as re- 
vealed to her in the beginning, and she would 
do so though it conflicted with every faculty 
of the mind, and every sense of the body, with 
which errorists allege that it does. 

Imagine that we had no other sense than 
hearing; would it be possible to understand 
the Word of God to be in contradiction to 
itself, in the matter immediately in hand? 
Had we but the single sense by which faith 
cometh, it would be plainly impossible to 
contradict or change, the revealed Word and 
infallible truth of God, in reference to the 
faith, and to all the faith, the Church teaches 

26 



302 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



to her children. Reason says so, experience 
says so, common sense says so. All these 
teach that the substance of body cannot be 
reached and comprehended by them, even in 
the natural order; and the claim set up for 
their jurisdiction in the supernatural order is 
simply absurd. The supremacy of the natural 
over the spiritual is annualizing too much ; 
it is inverting all the dignity and grandeur, 
all the purity and holiness, that we know. 
Which of the senses has taught us what is the 
substance of light ? When light invades and 
irritates the delicate tissues of the inflamed 
eye, why do not the senses, why do not sight 
and touch, arrest the substantial arm of the 
oppressor, and lead him away from the organs 
of sight? It is alike against reason and the 
senses that the bold intruder should inflict 
useless suffering with impunity. Light pene- 
trates everywhere, exists in all things, illumin- 
ates all ; robs nothing of its vision, its rights, 
its power or authority, in the sphere in which 
God has fixed its rights, its power, and in 
which he has constituted its authority. But 
though this phenomenon we call light is so 
pervasive, its substance is wholly beyond all 
the powers and senses of man. Neither these, 
nor any art or science which ministers to these, 
can enable man to touch its substance, or even 



NATURAL REASON. 



303 



to see its body. Yet nothing in nature, with 
a law from nature, can rightfully utter one 
word of complaint against the supremacy 
which light exerts in all the realms of the 
natural order. Let the naturalist — let the sen- 
sualist, then, tell us what is the substance of 
light, in the natural order, before he arraigns 
the Church for the faith and its mysteries she 
teaches her children in the daily eucharistic 
sacrifice, which she daily makes upon her 
altars, in obedience to the words of its insti- 
tution. But who hath seen death? That 
mysterious thing we call life, when it enters 
our body, and so call it while it dwells there ; 
and that which we call death, when it goes 
out of the body : who hath seen it f Who 
hath tested its nature and offices by smell or 
touch or taste ? Yet it is substantial as life. 
Who hath seen life? There is no man of 
ordinary reflection, upon the sources of his 
knowledge, who will make the four senses the 
test of truth in the natural order. And there 
are so many mysteries of transubstantiation in 
this order, that it is a special wonder how 
it ever became a creed of any sect of pro- 
fessing Christians, that the fact of transub- 
stantiation which the Church teaches her chil- 
dren, in the spiritual and supernatural Order, 
is incredible because the testimony of the 



304 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



senses fails to recognize its truth. We have 
shown that but one sense can, in the order 
of nature, take cognizance of it, and that that 
one never fails to teach exactly what the 
Church teaches concerning transubstantiation. 
The naturalist or the sensualist who impugns 
the teaching of the Church on this account, 
is a very careless or a very undevout wor- 
shipper at the altars of nature. There are 
facts of transubstantiation in nature which 
should induce the sincere and instructed wor- 
shipper at her shrines to approach the living 
mysteries of God, revealed in the supernatural 
order, with the simple reverence of a little 
child. And if this be true of the mere sen- 
sualist (by courtesy, the mere naturalist), what 
shall we say of those who profess to be Chris- 
tians, and who yet arraign the Church with 
more vindictiveness than does the sensualist 
for her faith and teaching ? The truth is, that 
facts of transubstantiation are so numerous — 
so universal in the natural order — that if it 
were not a question whether it be true in 
the supernatural, we should think (if indulging 
antecedent objections) that if there were no 
facts of transubstantiation revealed in the spir- 
itual order, that then the argument would be 
that the faith revealed was not true, because 
facts of this character did not occupy a place 



NATURAL REASON. 



305 



in the spiritual as well as in the natural order 
of things. Almost every fact we see in the 
natural order is a fact of transubstantiation. 

Let any man seriously consider the arrange- 
ments and phenomena in the order of nature 
around him. Can he find any thing what- 
ever, but which is at once the result and the 
evidence of transubstantiation ? St. Paul il- 
lustrates an article of revealed faith by one 
of these facts of transubstantiation, which is 
found in the natural order. In the fifteenth 
chapter of first Corinthians, verses 35, 36, 37, 
38, we read : " But some will say, how are 
the dead raised up ? And with what body do 
they come ? Fool, that which thou sowest is 
not quickened, except it die : And that which 
thou sowest, thou sowest not that body which 
shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of 
wheat, or some other grain : but God giveth 
it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every 
seed its own body." Yerse 40 : " There are 
also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial ; but 
the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory 
of the terrestrial is another." Yerse 42 : " So 
also is the resurrection of the dead : It is sown 
in corruption : it is raised in incorruption." 
Yerses 43, 44 : " It is sown in dishonor ; it is 
raised in glory : it is sown in weakness ; it is 
raised in power : it is sown a natural body ; ft 

20 26* 



306 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural 
body and there is a spiritual body" Let us, 
for a brief moment, reflect on this fact of 
transubstantiation in the natural order, given 
by St. Paul to show the Pagan mind the 
reasonableness of the resurrection of the body. 
Let us do so with special reference to the 
teaching of the Church in the eucharistic 
sacrifice. Let the mind throughout, as its 
eyes glance from the natural to the spiritual, 
and from the spiritual to the natural, dwell 
with severest thought and profoundest con- 
sideration, and with intense scrutiny, upon the 
peculiarly single and simple fact that 
substance, the thing, the being of all phenom- 
ena, cannot be grasped by the senses : that it 
eludes all human power and conception, ex- 
cept that of faith, which closets with it as a 
friend, and takes it to her bosom as an offspring 
(as it is) of her own. A grain of. wheat is 
sown; it dies, and quickens in the act; it 
arises a blade of grass ; it grows to bloom ; it 
lives to maturity ; perfects its seed — it is grain 
again. Bread is made of this grain ; it is 
eaten by man ; and, by eating it he hath flesh 
and blood ; he hath natural life. What then 
is the substance of this grain ? The grass ? 
The grain again ? It is seen, in the process, 
t% be human flesh and blood. The substance, 



NATURAL REASON. 



307 



then, of the grain is the flesh and blood of 
graminivorous animals. This may not be its 
ultimate substance. But we perceive it is 
either an intermediate or actual (that is an 
ultimate or final) substance of the grain. It 
was such when it was sown ; it was such when 
it died and quickened, in the very article of 
its death ; it was such in its change from grass 
to grain again ; and from this to bread — the 
substance of which, in the natural order, was 
converted immediately into human flesh and 
blood,— it was such. Here is a fact of tran- 
substantiation in the natural order, which is so 
common as to attract no remark, even from 
acute materialists, and its mysteries are inex- 
plicable ; but it is impossible to disbelieve 
them, — every sensualist credits these (natural) 
mysteries as readily and as fully as the devout 
Catholic. Yet they elude his senses. These, 
in the several progressive changes from one 
condition to another, until the actual substance 
of human flesh and blood, are nowhere grasped 
by any sense of man. But the result is, from 
the first of the series of events to the last, that 
the grain comes to bread, and the -substance 
of bread is immediately changed into animal 
flesh and blood. How ? By a fiat of nature : 
by an incomprehensible fact of transubstantia- 
tion in the natural order. You ate simple 



308 DIVINE FAITH AND 

bread ; it looked like bread ; it tasted like 
bread ; it had the touch and smell of bread ; 
yet in its substance it was flesh and blood. 
Sensualist and naturalist ! Why should it be 
thought a thing incredible with you " that the 
mystery of divine faith can be true? What, 
then, is the substance of bread in the natural 
order? It is human flesh and blood. This is 
a natural miracle. It is produced by a single 
word of nature. Her fiat in one word of com- 
mand, produces it. It is grand and admirable, 
beautiful and inexplicable ; but so credible, 
that even the sensualist will not deny it. And 
this natural miracle, men, by the habit of 
non-reflection, without consideration, believe 
without doubt (because they are familiar with 
it, and never heard it questioned — perhaps 
never discussed) that they understand it; 
believe that it is a fact grasped by their reason, 
by their common sense and experience ; but it 
is not so. They know no more of it than they 
do of any spiritual miracle.. Nothing more : 
philosophically, and artistically, and scientifi- 
cally, they are alike ignorant of the miracles in 
both orders. But they do not understand the 
natural miracle on reflection, and cannot 
comprehend it ; yet they cannot discredit it : 
they are obliged to believe it, as a natural 
fact and a natural miracle. And so they are 



NATURAL REASON. 



309 



obliged, by the word of God, to believe any 
mystery and miracle in the supernatural 
order ; and this, alone, because his word is the 
pledge for its truth and the security for its 
reality. For he who discredits the divine 
word withdraws himself from all moral and 
religious obligation ; and must, in the future, 
take the judgment and penalty of the dis- 
believer, which is eternal condemnation. 

When men, who profess to credit divine 
revelation, say that any revealed mystery of 
faith is contrary to their experience, and there- 
fore untrue, they are probably unaware of the 
terrible implications their assertions carry along 
with their direct negative purpose. A simple 
question will unfold the hidden blasphemy 
contained in such sayings : when did these 
men in their experience, hear God utter a 
falsehood ? And so of their reason ? And so 
of their common sense ? Their reason, ex- 
perience, and common sense, have been fully 
shown to be false, as standards of divine truth. 
The awful logic of begging the question in 
contradiction of the divine word, is here fully 
disclosed, by a single and very simple question. 
The accusers of the Church should show, as a 
fact, by evidence overriding the attestations 
of all the saints from the Apostles till now, 
that there was no revelation made at all ; 



310 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



instead of assuming there was none, because, 
by an act of inference from their human 
endowments, they come to the conclusion that 
the revelation is contrary to certain of these 
endowments; namely, their reason, their ex- 
perience, and their common sense. Hence the 
question never is, what is man's reason ? 
What is his experience ? What is his common 
sense ? Never ! The question always is, What 
has God revealed to his holy Church ? 

But we come nearer to the insufficiency of 
taste, touch, sight, and smell, as criterions of 
divine revelation, than we have yet been. We 
have been gradually feeling our way, as it 
were, up to this place. It is the purpose of 
this section to satisfy the conscience, the in- 
tellect, — all the powers of every candid, 
reflecting professor of a belief in Christianity, 
that these senses are not the standard or rule 
of divine faith. The standard ! They are 
no standard ; no rule of divine faith. This 
proposition we bring to an instant and 
decisive test. The resurrection from the 
dead : a life of the soul and body forever, 
with God is the ultimate, the real, the essen- 
tial, the fundamental fact of Christianity. 
Has the sensualist or the naturalist seen this 
fact ? Has he tasted it ? Has he touched it ? 
Has he smelled it ? Preposterous questions I 



NATURAL REASON. 



311 



one and all exclaim. But, on the sensualist's 
and naturalist's rule of interpreting divine 
revelation, no man of sense can explain why 
they are not, not only, sensible and reasonable 
questions, but also questions (each) pointing 
to a necessary fact. Why then are they pre- 
posterous ? Simply because the sensualist's 
and naturalist's rule of interpreting divine 
revelation is not only false, but unqualifiedly 
absurd. The resurrection from the dead is 
not a fact cognizable by the natural senses, 
which we negative as a rule of faith. It is not 
cognizable by reason ; nor by experience; nor 
by common sense. It is a revealed fact : we 
believe it on the veracity of God alone. That 
Infidels and Atheists — that the Sensualists — 
should assert any fact of divine revelation to 
be contrary to the senses (meaning taste, 
touch, sight, and smell), and therefore false, is 
not wonderful : it is a natural development of 
their sensuous minds, and a necessary unfold- 
ing of sensualism. It is what we expect ; and 
we would be astonished if they were to take 
the spiritual view of revelation which faith 
teaches, or any spiritual view at all of man's 
title, by revealed facts, to a future home 
in the supernatural world. The Atheist and 
Sensualist cannot ascend from the natural 
order of things in which he lives, to a 



312 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



spiritual fact, in the spiritual order of things, 
in which God lives ; — hence his " Credibles " 
and " Incredibles " are all measured by the 
standards of sensuality in the natural, material 
order. From his habits of thought, and his 
customary ideas of what is pure, spiritually 
pure and holy ; and from his estimate of what 
the Christian calls eternity, it would be very 
strange — certainly contrary to his experience 
— if the sensualist made any other interpreta- 
tion than he does of divine faith. 

That any one claiming that Christianity is 
credible and a divinely revealed system of 
truth, and that the resurrection from the dead 
is a fact of Christianity, should array against 
the facts of divine faith revealed to the Apos- 
tles such a standard of credibility or rule of 
faith as these (negatived) senses, and to which 
the Church objects (as a standard of divine 
truth), is not readily accounted for; it is a 
mystery how a Christian mind ever came to 
be deluded by a standard so deceptive as to 
contradict at once both nature and super- 
nature. It surely was not adopted all at once 
and generally, at the beginning of the Refor- 
mation. It must have been the work of time, 
and a necessity of the progress of error. Men 
must have been driven to it, originally, as 
a subterfuge and a shift, to shield themselves 



NATURAL REASON. 



313 



from truths and arguments they could not meet 
and answer, even, by respectable sophisms. 
In fact, we know this was really the case ; for 
both Henry VIII. and Luther clung to the 
faith of the Church from which they aposta- 
tized, on the doctrine of the eucharist, with 
great pertinacity, and with more endearing 
regard than either was thought capable of 
exhibiting for any principle which conflicted 
with his passions. But howsoever the accusers 
of the Church came by this sensual standard, 
and how quietly soever they may have enter- 
tained and cherished them as a part of their 
traditionary faith. — Their traditionary faith ! — 
it surely behooves them to examine its foun- 
dation in nature, in reason, in common sense, 
in experience, and in the Word of God. The 
sensual rule contradicts every one of these, 
within their respective spheres of authority. 
It contradicts not only these, but it contradicts 
— wipes out, annihilates — the fundamental 
opinion on which Protestantism rests and is 
established. This fundamental opinion, so 
wiped out, is this : that all they believe, all 
their opinions must be found written in the 
Old Testament and Gospels and Epistles. 
Row, have the accusers of the Church ever 
recognized that the sensual rule of divine faith 
— which we have been negativing throughout 

27 



314 



DIYINK FAITH AND 



this section — is a traditionary rule, and one 
not found recorded in either of the Gospels or 
either of the Epistles ? It is so, whether they 
have recognized it or not; for it is nowhere 
intimated in them that the question between 
the Church and Protestants, on the institution, 
nature, and office of the holy eucharist, is to 
be decided by an appeal from any ambiguous 
words in the revelation of God, to the direct 
decision of smell, taste, touch, and sight, as 
these exist in man. "No one of the Gospels 
nor any one of the Epistles declares, by any 
plain statement, nor by any indication or hint, 
that these (four) senses are a standard or rule 
of divine faith. This is true — it will not be 
disputed. And being true, it thence clearly 
appears that the accusers of the Church have 
a traditionary faith or opinion which over- 
turns the basis upon which their fabric of re- 
ligion is erected. That concerns them. What 
concerns us, in the fact, is that they should 
be a little more placable towards the children 
of the Church for their traditionary faith, 
taught to them by their holy Mother, and 
which the great commission, on its face, and 
by its terms, shows that her blessed Lord and 
Saviour revealed to her and commanded her 
to teach to all nations, even unto the end of 
the world. 



NATURAL REASON. 



315 



SECTION XIY. 

CONCLUSION. 

The Question. The Question never is, What is 
Man's Reason? his Experience? his Common 
Sense ? or his Tastes and Opinions ? But the 
question always is, ever "was, what has god 
Revealed ? The Supremacy of Faith in the Nat- 
ural Order is a Fact taught by all our Natural 
Knowledge. And in the Supernatural Order 
the Supremacy of Faith is a Matter of Necessity. 
Our Natural and Mental Constitutions give 
undoubted Evidence to these Propositions. 

That what is the reason, the sense, and 
experience of man cannot be a matter of di- 
vine revelation, is most evident. Any notion 
of things, approaching to slight clearness and 
distinctness, will satisfy any one of this truth. 
For what is divine revelation ? It is a new 
fact, or system of facts, existing in the super- 
natural order, and, before its promulgation to, 
hidden from men. This divine system is one 
| that concerns the relations which man sus- 
tains to, and the duties and obligations which 
he owes to, the supernatural order, from which 
the revelation emanates, and upon the proper 
maintenance of which relations and the right 



316 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



discharge of which duties and obligations 
depends his eternal happiness. This fact, or 
system of facts, before existing in. the divine 
order, in the fulness of time was made known, 
through the sacerdotal order, to men by 
the blessed Saviour.* This was God making 
known to men a new fact or a new system in 
facts, which was new in their order, for the 
the sake of their eternal happiness. Hence 
the revelation was an act of divine love and 
mercy and condescension. This is a sufficient 
account of divine revelation for the purposes 
of this section ; and, so far, it is an accurate 
and perfect account of it. That this did not 
concern, or was not a matter of human rea- 
son, human experience, and human common 
sense, is a self-evident truth; for these facul- 
ties of men were not facts existing in the 
divine or supernatural order, and hidden from 
him until the advent of the blessed Saviour, 
and which were then revealed to man in his 
(natural) order, as new facts, upon which his 
eternal happiness was founded. Man had his 
reason, common sense, and experience always, 
without the help of revelation. He had them, 
in their fulness, before the Christian revela- 
tion of divine faith. They were as perfect 



We refer, of course, to revelations after his advent. 



NATURAL REASON. 



317 



in their order before the revelation as after- 
wards. ~No new strength of natnre was added 
to them by, nor did any new authority or 
force result to their constitution from, the 
revelation. Human knowledge . was, of ne- 
cessity, extended by the revelation. This re- 
sulted, as a matter of course, from the nature 
of things and the purpose of the Divinity. 
The natural faculties of man would have been 
changed or deadened if this had not been so ; 
for every new fact presented to reason and 
common sense, and added to experience, is an 
extension of our knowledge to things before 
unknown. This is so, whether the new fact 
be one having its proper residence in the 
natural or in the supernatural order. It is 
a necessity of nature — of human nature — that 
such should be the case. Human genius, in- 
tellect, and imagination cannot evade the con- 
sequence if they would. New facts, hence, 
are simply new materials for the reason, the 
intellect, the sense, the experience to adopt 
and weave into new forms of knowledge. Their 
anterior powers, however, are not changed, 
but enlightened by extended knowledge. The 
same powers of understanding, which weave 
the new facts into new forms of knowledge, 
had woven the previous facts presented to 
them into that knowledge which existed in 

27* 



318 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



the mind before the revelation. The very- 
same powers of the understanding, or mind, 
were exercised on the old (anterior) facts that 
were exercised on the new. No new powers 
of the understanding, or mind, were needed, 
hence none were revealed, or rather none 
were created ; but new facts, new materials, 
were presented to the mind, by which — aided 
and guided, as promised by the divine Re- 
vealer — it might build up a new system of 
knowledge, derived from a new source of facts 
and a spiritual order of existence. This new 
knowledge, derived from a spiritual source or 
fountain of facts, was, of course, an addition 
to and extension of the old knowledge existing 
anterior to the revelation. Now, if we be 
asked, Why so patient to state such obvious 
truths ? We answer, not because we expect 
to teach anybody, but because we desire a 
distinct recognition of the facts by everybody. 

Hence, then, a divine revelation was the 
most natural (so to speak) and benignant thing 
in the pro video ce of God. It was naturally to 
be expected by reason, in its knowledge of its 
own universal weakness and debasement. It 
was expected. The prophets had foretold it. 
And earthly rulers dreaded the purity and 
sanctity of divine revelation and the head of 
the spiritual kingdom, whom prophetic predic- 



NATURAL REASON. 



319 



tion had foreshadowed as one who would 
surely overthrow their corrupt dynasties and 
power. And their apprehensions were right 
in fact and substance, but wrong in means and 
the application of means ; for they expected 
to be cast down by a new political power of 
extraordinary magnificence and ever-enduring 
authority. So they interpreted the prophets. 
(Men have always — as well as for the last 
three hundred years — been putting the teach- 
ings of their own human senses in the place of 
the plain instrnctions of the divine spirit). 
Pagan manners, habits, and customs, and pagan 
religions, have been uniformly subverted by 
the purity and holiness of Christianity. The 
sanctity and purity of the Church has crushed 
pagan sentiment wherever it has been permit- 
ted to make any thing like a fair contest for its 
subversion, for its utter abolition. And if it 
were possible to believe that Christianity, as 
revealed to the holy Mother Church, could 
become old or worn out ; could become unfit 
to purify men, and make them holy; and pre- 
pare them for an eternal residence with the 
God of purity and sanctity ; if further, it were 
possible for this revealed Christianity to 
become, not only unfit for its design, but that 
it would actually tend to debase and brutalize 
men, as pagan manners and opinions did : — 



320 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



then, it would be the most natural thing in the 
providence of God, to expect that he would 
make another revelation, in mercy, to raise 
up to a kinship with himself the imbruted in- 
habitants of the world. Philosophers, who 
believed in a supreme (personal) God, would 
expect, and prophets who speak for him would 
predict, that in the fulness of time, a new 
revelation, to enlighten man's reason and to 
extend his knowledge, would be made to him, 
so as to conform his will to the divine will and 
divine economy, and thus to purify, elevate, 
and enlighten man, in the natural order, and 
thus to restore him to his lost relations to the 
spiritual order, in such maimer as to fit his 
being for a communion and companionship 
with his Maker; and to enjoy eternal happiness 
in his kingdom and councils and providence 
forever. All who believe in a God would ex- 
pect this, in the supposed but impossible case. 
But no reasonable man, guided by reason and 
common sense, would discredit and denounce 
the new revelation, when made, because it 
was contrary to his reason, senses, and experi- 
ence. This would be to falsify the hope of 
philosophers, the predictions of prophets, the 
expectations of mankind, and the mercy of 
God. Every revelation from God to man, be 
it remembered, is a mercy to man. Hence 



NATURAL REASON. 



321 



one folly of arraying any of the powers of the 
mind, as such, against a divine revelation. 
Such an act is making a human war upon 
divine mercy. It is denying God. It is to 
question his supremacy of mercy, his wisdom 
and his economy in the administration of his 
supernatural providence. The very same 
principles, with an additional energy of reason, 
prevail against the tastes and opinions of men 
being concerned, as arbiters and judges, in 
the truth and fitness of a revelation from God. 
The tastes, the senses, the opinions of men, 
are the peculiar objects which a divine reve- 
lation would be expected to overrule and 
revolutionize, in their moral and religious 
aspects : — in their assumptions of power either 
to regulate or teach moral and religious truth. 
If human sense, taste, and opinions were in 
accordance with the will of God, it would be 
difficult to frame a reason and a necessity for a 
revelation. These, then, cannot be consulted 
upon a question of divine revelation. They 
cannot be allowed to speak to the question of 
its fitness or unfitness to the dignity and 
supreme majesty and wisdom of God. The 
revelation is made against them. It judges 
them ; not they it. It demands their over- 
throw — their total subversion, in their assumed 

relation to the supernatural, as judges and 
21 



322 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



teachers of the truth. And the revelation 
imperiously requires and unqualifiedly enacts 
that they be changed, — be born anew. And 
they are told by the divine Revealer, that it is 
a divine decree in the divine order, that unless 
they "be born again they cannot enter into 
the kingdom of heaven," the means of obtain- 
ing which he came to give them. Thus 
reason plainly teaches that human tastes, 
senses, and opinions, cannot be concerned as 
judges, but only as culprits, in the truth and 
reality of a divine revelation and its institu- 
tions and observances. The natural tastes and 
opinions of men have decried revelation from 
the first ; and they always will hold the divine 
law in detestation. The natural mind is at en- 
mity with God ; it is not subject to his law, 
and neither can it be. It must have its knowl- 
edge extended by faith in a divine revelation 
before it can be subject to the law of God, and 
be at peace with his will, and in communion 
with his love. Hence the question as to divine 
revelation, has never been : what are human 
tastes and opinions ? But the question is, and 
has always been : what has God revealed ? 

What were the traditionary articles (facts) 
of faith to which the blessed Saviour referred 
when he spoke to the holy Mother Church, 
and commanded her to teach as follows : " All 



NATURAL REASON. 



323 



power is given unto me in heaven and in 
earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you ; and, lo, I am with you 
always, even unto the end of the world. 
Amen?" This is always the question. The 
investigation of what were these traditionary 
facts or articles of faith, thus recalled to the 
notice of the Apostles, and which he com- 
manded them, who were his chosen sacerdotal 
order, to teach forever, is always the simple 
inquiry ; and nothing else is within the field 
of examination at all. The question is, what 
faith, and what duties and obligation of faith, 
had been before revealed which were now 
thus commanded to be taught and observed 
for all time % And, this faith is to be taken 
on the veracity of God alone, speaking through 
his authorized and duly commissioned teachers. 
The divine teaching, or sacerdotal order, 
whom he alone commissioned to teach, and 
whom he alone authorized to teach " all things, 
whatsoever he had commanded them," — this 
is the order of men whom he promised "to 
guide into all truth," and to whom he prom- 
ised the Holy Ghost, " to bring all things to 
their remembrance, whatsoever he had spoken 



324 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



to them." This divinely appointed teaching 
order, is that to which he promised to be and 
remain with forever, when he said, as an 
encouragement to them to enter upon the 
sacerdotal office, " Lo, I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world." This 
divinely appointed sacerdotal order is that 
alone through which the traditionary faith, 
which the blessed Lord commanded, to teach 
and observe, can be ascertained. This sacer- 
dotal order is alone to teach and expound the 
word of God. It is his only witness. It is his 
only, his single organ. And the reason is 
most obvious : The divine revelation was made 
to them ; it was deposited with them ; it rests 
and exists in the mind of no other order of 
men, so as to be brought out to remembrance 
by the Holy Ghost, when in the providence 
of God any of its traditions are peculiarly 
required to be exactly stated and rigidly en- 
forced. No other order of men, no other men, 
have either authority or promise in the matter. 
If the promise of Christ is to be believed, and 
if his command is to be regarded, this is both 
a simple fact and a fact of reason. If this 
sacerdotal order, thus consecrated by the 
blessed Saviour to teach forever, has ceased to 
exist in the purity and authority with which 
it was endowed by its divine institutor and 



NATURAL REASON. 



325 



consecrator, it is a lamentable and awful fact. 
Is there, now, no Church on earth teaching the 
very faith and keeping the very observances 
which the blessed God commanded to be 
taught and observed forever f Has this holy 
Mother Church corrupted and died ? Have 
the gates of hell prevailed against this Church, 
so commissioned and so guaranteed by the 
assurance of her Divine Founder's word, that he 
would be with her always to the end of the 
world ; that the Holy Ghost would be with 
her as a comforter ; that this adorable person 
of the Trinity would be with her as a remem- 
brancer, so that she should never forget any of 
"the all things whatsoever" he had com- 
municated (revealed) to her ; that the Holy 
Spirit would be sent to her to guide her into 
all Truth ? Has the holy Mother Church, thus 
divinely assured and guaranteed, ceased to be 
the Mother of Christ's children ? Are they left 
orphans? And are all the children of men 
without a divinely organized, and divinely 
commissioned, and divinely instructed teacher 
of the traditionary faith so revealed to the 
holy Mother Church ? Have all God's sacred 
promises and solemn assurances to her failed ? 
Terrible calamity ! When did this amazing tra- 
gedy occur, which lost to the natural and to the 
spiritual worlds the fruits of the sacrifice of 

28 



326 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



the Son of God ? When did the blessed Jesus 
lose his own select and chosen witness to the 
teachings of his life, to the fact of his death 
and to the reality of his resurrection ? When- 
ever this astonishing and calamitous event took 
place, the solid globe must have trembled, as 
though it would rend itself in twain ; it must 
have been smitten with darkness, and over- 
spread with spiritual death ; moral paralysis 
and intellectual maniacism must have appalled 
the race of man, when the power and diaboli- 
city of hell thus struck from their sphere and 
abiding place in the Church, both the Son of 
God, who is the resurrection and the life of 
man, and the Holy Spirit, by whom the ever 
Yirgin — the Immaculate Mother of God, con- 
ceived the divine Redeemer. This period of 
natural, moral, and spiritual ruin, when the 
Divine Founder of the Church was compelled 
to suffer eternal banishment from her organi- 
zation, to forego his communion with her life, 
to abandon his promise to his spouse, contained 
in the words : " Lo, I am with you always, even 
unto the end of the world ;" this period when 
she was finally lost to her original purity and 
forever degraded in spiritual desolation ; this 
period when he was driven away from her, by 
her consummation of impurity, and when she 
was left a death-stricken widow, in the power 



NATURAL REASON. 



327 



and within the foul embraces of Satan ; this 
must have been a time terrifically marked 
with natural, moral, and spiritual convulsions, 
a period in the world's history, marked so 
deeply, so ineffaceably by the accursed foot- 
prints of the prince of darkness, that no son 
of man can fail to trace, everywhere, the in- 
fernal tracks, the horrid engravings, the 
hideous monuments commemorating, at once, 
the doom of the Church, the promises of Christ 
to his divine spouse, and the hopeless, irre- 
coverable ruin of the human family. But, 
blessed be God and his holy name ! no such 
tragic calamity — overwhelming the Church, 
and her Divine Founder, with sad desolation 
and destruction — has occurred. No such mon- 
uments of a woe-struck world exist. The very 
Church, with her one God, one faith, one 
baptism, which he established to teach and ob- 
serve all things which he had commanded, — 
that very Church he abides with yet, and will 
comfort forever. His word of promise has not 
failed, and shall not forever. His holy Mother 
Church has always taught, and does now, and 
forever will, teach the very faith, and will 
verily observe "all things, to do them," 
which he had commanded her to teach and to 
observe before his ascension. In youthful 
vigor she is as fresh ; in the purity of her vir- 



328 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ginal teaching she is as immaculate ; in child- 
like obedience she is as faithful ; in all the 
devotions of sanctified maternity, she is as 
uncontaminated with any error, and as holy, as 
she was on the day when he espoused her to 
himself, and introduced her to the nations as 
"The bride, the Lamb's wife," to be the 
sacred mother of all the earth-born children 
of his Father. 

But to return for a moment to the terrific 
supposition that this holy Mother Church has 
succumbed to the genius of hell, and that its 
gates have prevailed against her, and that her 
sphere of spiritual teaching and power in the 
world is a desolated waste, is a field where the 
promises of God lie in the wild confusion of 
destruction ; suppose all this : what then ? It 
results from the (supposed) fact that whoever 
now appears as a witness for God, to prove, to 
perpetuate the facts of faith revealed to his 
Mother Church, is a perjurer: that any insti- 
tution calling itself, claiming to be, his Church 
— his witness to the truth, claiming to teach by 
his express ordinance, authority, and command, 
is a pretender and a usurper : is Anti-Christ : 
is the impure lady of Babylon, arrayed in her 
finest, but stolen, scarlet. But what of this ? 
What then? What then is the necessary, 
the naked fact, on the conditions supposed? 



NATURAL REASON. 



329 



What becomes of the numerous — almost num- 
berless sectaries who wag the finger of scorn, 
and who curl the lip of derision at the scarlet 
lad j ? Manifestly none of them received the 
deposit of faith, originally revealed to the holy 
Mother Church, from the Apostles. They do 
not claim, even, to so have received it ; they 
hold in an ineffable contempt, in utter de- 
rision, the idea that there either is or can be 
an order of men who are the successors to the 
Apostles, and who, by their consecration, are 
in unity with them; and, hence, one — the very 
same — holy Mother Church which the blessed 
Jesus commissioned to teach his revelation. 
They make no claim themselves to be this 
Church, and they will allow no one else to 
make it. But if they did claim to be the 
successors of the Apostles, who were conse- 
crated to teach the mysteries of divine faith, 
it would be impossible that they could make 
good the claim ; for they do not reach back, 
through time, far enough, by fifteen hundred 
years, to be their successors and the recipients 
of the traditionary deposit of faith which was 
revealed to the holy Mother Church, and 
which she was organized to teach, and com- 
manded to teach, to all nations forever. Thus, 
upon the principles of the accusers of the 
Church themselves, and upon their assump- 

28* 



330 



DIVLNE FAITH AND 



tions that the holy Catholic Church is not the 
authorized teacher of divine revelation com- 
mitted to the Apostles, it follows, as a neces- 
sary fact, that they themselves are false wit- 
nesses and usurpers, and that there is no 
divine, and therefore no infallible teacher of 
God's Word. This conclusion is too sweep- 
ing ; it is too terribly blasphemous ; it is too 
blasting to the hopes which the children of 
men have in eternity, built upon the promises 
of God. It leaves the world without either 
an authorized or an infallible teacher of divine 
revelation. It makes the promises of God to 
be lies ; for he promised the Apostolic Church 
that he organized, at the moment of its insti- 
tution, that she should never fail. He prom- 
ised that Church to be with her until the 
consummation of all things. When he organ- 
ized his Apostolic Church to teach all things 
whatsoever he had commanded her, he then 
promised to be with her unto the end of the 
world : he promised to abide with her forever ; 
for he said to her, " Lo, I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world." He especi- 
ally and plainly pledged his word that he 
would send the Holy Ghost to be her guide 
for a single purpose; and that to guide her into 
all truth, and to bring to her remembrance 
all things whatsoever he had spoken to her. 



NATURAL REASON. 



331 



Now, the accusation that this holy Apostolic 
Church has become Anti-Christ and the scar- 
let lady of Babylon, is a simple, a single, a 
certain blasphemous reproach and contradic- 
tion of the Word of God. From whence the 
sacrilegious conclusion of the Church's ac- 
cusers against which we protest? Not from 
a known, but yet from a traditionary malice. 
Not from a deliberative, willing love of false 
accusation, how terribly soever false it really 
is, bat from a traditionary imposition, alike 
injurious to the hearts and understandings of 
those who suffer alone from perpetuating the 
original crime. For we trust, now, at this 
day, known malice, lovingly and deliberately 
cherished in false accusations, uttered with 
a spiteful design and deceitful intent to slan- 
der the holy Catholic Church, may be dis- 
carded, as a general thing, from our minds 
when we are dealing with injurious accusa- 
tions against our holy Mother and our own 
faith. But whence come these false accusa- 
tions, not generally known to be such by those 
who utter them ? The answer is obvious and 
patent to every one who has carefully ex- 
amined how dexterously Caesar, in the in- 
cipient stages of the Reformation, veiled his 
crafty and bloody purposes of state, under the 
semblances of zeal for a new religion, to vin- 



332 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



dicate, as lie, with insidious cunning, said, the 
rights of mind and man from the oppression 
of the Church established by the blessed Re- 
deemer. Any one who has trailed Caesars 
track, beslimed with blood, all along his subtle 
windings of malignant artifice, and through 
the theology of sectaries, will most readily 
perceive the actual source, the real origin, of 
the accusations, which are at once unjust to 
the teachings of the Church and to the char- 
acter of her accusers. They come from Caesar. 
He and his parasites deluded men into the 
original and fatal mistake, which is now the 
traditionary opinion of the Church's accusers, 
that human reason, that common sense, that 
experience — that human senses and endow- 
ments — are, in' some sort, standards of divine 
faith, or criterions, in a similar sort, of the 
truth in the written word of divine revelation. 
And it was this swallowing of the crafty illusion 
and wily deception, which take human sense 
and endowments for divine revelation, or for 
valid standards of it, that first produced apos- 
tasy; and then, in its origin, deeply malig- 
nant slander and false accusation against the 
Church, to justify the apostasy. 

And though the original and known malice, 
at this day, does not generally accompany 
unjust accusations against the Church, yet 



NATURAL REASON. 



333 



tlieir traditionary calumny remains, though 
stripped of the originally known and the 
originally cherished malignity inspired by 
Caesar's minions. The theological error — the 
error of traditionary opinion — which the ac- 
cusers of the Church always commit, is in 
taking human reason, human sense — any hu- 
man endowments — as the standards of divine 
faith, instead of the apostolic teaching of the 
facts themselves, of which the divine revela- 
tion of faith consisted. In briefer phrase, 
the error consists in taking human opinion 
for divine revelation. In still stricter phrase, 
and brief as accurate, the grand error which 
the accusers of the Church commit in regard 
to divine faith is this: they believe their con- 
struction of the written Word to he the mind 
of God, in divine revelation. And yet, in 
the nature of things, and in the natural order, 
and in the natural eyesight, as it were, the 
two things are incompatible and necessarily 
contradictories. Put this opinion into the 
expressions of a creed and see how violative 
of reason and the canons of logic it is : " My 
construction of the written Word is the mind 
of God in his divine revelation." There is 
scarcely any one so ignorant and so illiterate, 
as not to perceive the fallacy of taking his 
construction {opinion of its meaning) of a 



334 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



revelation, for the mind, the intent, and will 
of the Revealer, expressed in the revelation 
itself. And yet this has been the opinion of 
the Church's accusers from their origin till I 
now. This error — this rule of human opinion, 
the cardinal principles of which are, that rea- 
son, that experience, that common sense are, 
in some sort, rules of divine faith, and, in a 
similar sort, the true rule of interpreting the 
mind, the will, and intention of God, in the 
Scriptures of divine revelation : this error and 
this rule — these human endowments — are 
never the question ; and we submit that this 
is now too plainly true to admit of a serious 
dispute, based on the true canons of discussion, 
and relieved of all passion and declamation. 

The rule of human opinion (as we shall 
now, for brevity, style it) is not only sacrilegi- 
ous when applied to facts of revelation in the 
spiritual order, but it is subversive of the real 
principles of human nature in the natural 
order. It prevents the nature and destroys 
the functions of those faculties it vainly sum- 
mons to its aid, when it assaults the Church 
for usurping their rights ; namely, the faculties 
of reason, experience, and common sense. This 
rule of human opinion overturns the law of 
our being, on which all our knowledge is 
founded, both in the natural and spiritual 



NATURAL REASON. 



335 



orders. We cease to defend now, for a while, 
and turn accuser. And we repeat the accusa- 
tion, and desire it noted in the fulness of its 
distinctness and force, that the rule of human 
opinion, — either as a standard of divine faith 
in its entirety, or as the interpreter of the di- 
vine Word in the written revelation, — " over- 
turns the law of our being on which all our 
knowledge rests, both in the natural and 
spiritual orders." Or, in the words of the 
caption to this section, "the supremacy of 
faith in the natural order is a fact taught by 
all our knowledge ; but in the spiritual order 
the supremacy of faith is a necessity." Even 
among facts of reason, faith is supreme. For 
when reason develops a new fact, from other 
facts, by any of her recognized processes of 
action, faith seizes the fact so developed and 
stamps it with the seal of her truth, before 
reason concludes as to its absolute veracity. 
Reason, therefore, does not, and cannot, ad- 
mit the legitimacy of her own children, born 
of her own womb, until faith presents them 
to her as baptisms of her own truth. This 
is a fact, inherent in the constitution of things, 
and thoroughly stamped upon the essence 
of our mental organization, which we want 
marked, by candor, and not by partisan heat 
and declamation. What is the rule of faith 



336 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



in the natural order, when a new fact — a fact 
before unobserved and unknown — is presented 
to the mind in the order of nature? And 
which fact no genius or power of men can 
analyze — unravel so as to comprehend its 
philosophy and understand its nature and 
essence? Will any religionist in the world 
maintain that such a fact must be contra- 
dicted? Will he assert that reason demands 
that its existence must be denied as a thing 
that is against her authority and supremacy ? 
Will he affirm, in the presence of a pretty, 
prattling, smiling child, who is admiring this 
novelty of nature, that the thing does not 
exist ; and that the pretty little babbler is mak- 
ing an abolition of common sense by believing 
that it sees an existing thing, and enjoys what 
it sees ? When this child shall have attained 
manhood, retaining his knowledge that he did 
see and did enjoy the sight of the novel fact, 
will this religionist accuse any of his faculties 
for misleading him, and hence warn the grown 
man that he must not add the fact to his 
experience, because it is incredible (from ex- 
perience) that any such fact ever did exist? 
If any religionist or learned philosopher were 
so to maintain, it would be impossible for him 
to convince the world, or even a "little child," 
that he founded his "credibles" and his "in- 



NATURAL REASON. 



337 



credibles" upon the laws of human nature and 
the constitution of the human mind. He could 
not convince any one, justly claiming ration- 
ality, that whoever did believe the new fact, 
did thereby act contrary to reason, to common 
sense, and experience. On the contrary, he 
who gave credence to the fact, and interweaved 
it into the web of his previous information 
and knowledge, as material for his reason, as 
an extension of that knowledge which he pre- 
viously had, concerning the order of nature, 
would be the man who would, and the " little 
child" who would act, and obtain credit for 
acting, in obedience to reason and the consti- 
tution of his nature. Insanity alone would 
discredit a fact in the order of nature, because 
of its incomprehensibility, — because men could 
not rationalize it, so to speak, on the ideas 
of his old knowledge of anteriorly observed 
facts. So far forth, then, the Church does not 
violate the laws of nature, nor any law con- 
stituting the human mind, because she teaches 
facts as revelations from God, which all the 
endowments and capacities of the human 
mind cannot comprehend. Instead of this, her 
teaching, though not of things of nature, af- 
firms and upholds every principle of nature 
and of human nature, which she is accused 
of abasing and destroying. She always teaches 

22 29 



338 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



in rigid accordance with these principles of 
nature, though she does not teach facts of the 
order to which they belong, nor yet the 
knowledge of the things which they teach. 
They enlighten the understanding and extend 
its knowledge as to natural facts and the phi- 
losophy of things in the natural order. The 
Church enlightens the understanding and ex- 
tends its knowledge as to supernatural facts, 
and the duties and obligations thence arising 
to cultivate the mind, and discipline the heart 
and the will in harmony with the relations 
which the divine revelation shows to exist 
between moral beings in the natural order and 
spiritual beings in the supernatural order. 

Time and thought would be uselessly ex- 
pended in a further elaboration and exposition 
of the point immediately on hand. We submit 
it as a finished thing, as a matter impregnably 
established, that the rule of human opinion 
overturns the law of our being on which all 
our knowledge is founded, both in the natural 
and the supernatural orders ; and that the su- 
premacy of faith in the natural order is taught 
us by all our knowledge. 

We now proceed to the advocacy and main- 
tenance of the statement that, " The supremacy 
of faith in the supernatural order, is a matter 
of necessity." And this law binding us to the 



NATURAL REASON. 339 

spiritual world, and holding man in his right- 
ful relations to the spiritual beings who rule 
and inhabit it, is not an arbitrary rule and a 
technical necessity, which infringes upon the 
free exercise of any portion of our moral nature 
and intelligent endowments. It is a natural 
thing, as well as " a necessity." In other 
words, it is a natural law of our being that 
the tie which subsists between man and the 
spiritual world, and which links and binds 
him, naturally and rightfully, to the supreme 
God, and inhabitants of that world, is faith ; 
and that this ligament binding man in the 
natural order to God and angels in the super- 
natural order, is one of supremacy over ev- 
ery other that connects us with supernatural, 
spiritual beings. The supremacy of faith in 
the supernatural order, is a necessity, and a 
supreme natural necessity. It exists in the 
very elements of spiritual facts that faith 
should be supreme, in their order. In the 
simplest element and profoundest analysis (so 
to speak, though not with rigid correctness) of 
a supernatural fact, faith must reign supreme, 
— absolutely and universally supreme. Nature 
forbids, by her inexorable commands and irre- 
versible decrees, that it should be otherwise. 
A fact, existing in the supernatural order, can 
only be made known, in the natural order, by 



340 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



a divine revelation. Reason, — no endowment 
of the human mind can nnfetter itself of its 
earth-born shackles, and robe itself at once in 
superhuman and supernatural power ; and so 
wing its way into the divine counsels, in the 
order of heaven ; and there, by communion 
and intelligible intercourse with Divinity ob- 
tain a knowledge of supernatural facts; and 
then clothed with these, " in raiment above the 
brightness of the sun," fly down to earth and 
impart the heavenly acquired facts to men. 
This, all will concede, is a feat and a fact too 
grand for all human endowments. The divine 
Mind, then, must reveal supernatural facts to 
men, because it is impossible for them to 
acquire the facts for themselves. Reason will 
certainly affirm this as an original decree of 
her own, which can never be altered or changed 
while she remains true to her normal character. 
These divinely revealed facts, of necessity, 
will be totally new to man, in his order. No 
faculty of his, before the revelation, could have 
had any cognizance of any of them ; otherwise 
they would not be a divine revelation. This is, 
also, an unalterable decree of reason, in union 
with all human endowments. Divine revela- 
tion is, therefore, a making known to all man's 
powers new facts, which exist in a new order / 
that is, they are new so far as man and the 



NATURAL REASON. 



341 



natural order is concerned. But when they 
shall be revealed, how says man that they are 
" incredible," because contrary to his reason, 
sense, and experience ! What does he mean by 
such an affirmation ? So far as he means to 
discredit faith in the revelation, by such an 
assertion, he is using language in a loose and 
inexact sense, and is deceiving himself by his 
own abuse of terms. The assertion is sheer 
nonsense, unmitigated absurdity. For it 
affirms an original or prior status of fact, of 
reason, sense, and experience in his mind, 
which the revelation is contrary to — which it 
contradicts. And yet from both the nature 
and terms of the revelation, its facts are new, 
informatory, an extension of knowledge; 
leaving the status of the natural mind, in its 
natural organization of its powers, in the same 
normal condition in which it found them. 

The deception is a self-imposed one, — so 
shallow in itself, so contradictory of those laws 
of nature and the human mind, by which 
knowledge is extended, that it is the most extra- 
ordinary mental phenonema of the age, in 
which we live, that any one of respectable sense 
and culture, should abuse his mind by so coarse 
a fallacy. Millerism, Mormonism, or any oth- 
er ism, does not more surely and effectually 
override ordinary sense than does this sophism. 

29* 



342 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



We boast of this as an age of progress and 
reason. How do we progress, if at all ? Cer- 
tainly not by discrediting new facts — new 
discoveries among the, heretofore, unexplored 
recesses of nature, which include all human 
sciences. Whoever would lay down the soph- 
ism in the way of mere human progression, — 
namely, that all new facts, or facts which had 
not before been cognized, are false and contrary 
to reason, sense, and experience, because they 
are new, would be deemed insane beyond the 
hope of redemption. He would be held as 
one who, for his own mad purposes, had per- 
verted language, in its plain uses, and obvious 
and constant import. The very terms of our 
tongue, which teach us all we know of expe- 
rience, or of any faculty of the mind, would 
thus be so far abused as to subvert all the 
knowledge by which we identify experience 
and distinguish it from progress. Experience 
is a relative term, teaching us to identify what 
we have observed in the past, so as to divide 
it from what we shall observe hereafter. It 
marks the past in its relations to the unex- 
plored future. So it is with reason, and so it 
is with all our endowments ; for all these have 
their past (their experience), their present, 
and their relations to the future, as well as the 
thing we call experience, itself. This threefold 



NATUKAL KEASON. 



343 



relation, existing among the faculties of our 
nature, is destroyed by the insane fallacy we 
are contemning. Faith, then, in a supernatural 
revelation is a necessity. The supremacy of 
faith in the supernatural order is clearly seen 
to be a necessity, unless we deny the super- 
natural order altogether. Supernatural facts 
cannot reach down to us by any other channel. 
And we have no other faculty or power by 
which to reach up to them than "through 
faith, without which it is impossible to please 
God." Hence it is, also, that the supremacy 
of faith is a necessity of our nature. It is the 
only faculty among our endowments, by which 
the supernatural can be made manifest to us 
as a fact. It is the power by which a knowl- 
edge of supernatural things is brought to the 
human soul, through the instrumentality of 
hearing. The supernatural facts must be re- 
vealed if they exist, or they can never reach 
the human understanding. But when they are 
revealed, they still cannot reach the human 
Understanding without faith. For if the 
human soul, with all its endowments, dis- 
credit the revelation, then the effects of it 
are lost to man. Divinely revealed facts, 
which are immediately discredited as human 
fabrications and delusions of sense, are as 
fruitless to the human soul as if they were not 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



divine, and had not been revealed. Reason 
and all our endowments decree this, and will 
submit to no reversal of the decree. We 
cheerfully submit now that we have made 
good the statement that, " The supremacy of 
faith in the supernatural order is a matter of 
necessity." That inherently, in the nature and 
reason of things — in our own human nature — 
it must be so ; and that every faculty and every 
endowment of our minds justifies the necessity 
and decrees its existence, with resistless force, 
and absolute energy and power. 

How then do some say that reason, sense, 
and experience, are supreme; and that the 
divine faith the Church teaches her children 
must be discredited whenever human opinion, 
as enlightened by these human endowments, 
makes a decree against the credibility of divine 
revelation and the Church's teaching? The 
accusers of the Church cannot say so, because 
these constituents of mind, entering into this 
human opinion, are supreme over faith; for 
they are not so. Each of them, on the plain- 
est principles of their constitutional relations 
to the entire soul, renounces the supremacy 
claimed for it. They all, together, accuse those 
who make the claim for them, of subverting 
the very principles of our nature these facul- 
ties were given us to maintain and uphold. 



NATURAL REASON. 



345 



They all, furthermore, decree that, in order to 
elevate them to the supremacy claimed for 
them, language, the instrument of thought and 
idea, has to be abused and perverted ; that its 
obvious import and clearest relations to the 
facts of the universe, have to be destroyed 
in order to consummate the usurpation of 
atheism which their supremacy presupposes, 
and which it guarantees and assures. 

Having thus, too plainly for rational ques- 
tion, shown that those who teach contrary to 
the teaching of the Church, ignore nature and 
the endowments of humanity, and impliedly, 
at least, blaspheme, let us briefly sum up the 
mode and authority by which the Church 
acquired and teaches divine revelation. How, 
then, did she arrive at (acquire) the divinely 
revealed facts, which had been communicated 
to the Apostles by the divine Founder of 
Christianity, before they were commissioned, 
and before they were commanded to teach 
what had been revealed ? And how does she 
hold and retain, and now teach these divine 
facts, which were planted as seed in her mem- 
ory and bosom, before she was finally and 
distinctly organized to teach divine faith ? 
The answer is contained in the very terms of 
the commission itself, which is the divine char- 
ter of her organization ; she arrives at the 



346 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



facts by divine apostolic teaching, if at all. 
But there is no "if the facts can be reached 
and acquired ; they have always been in the 
custody of the Church. We suppose that 
reason, at least, will not deny that the children 
of the Church, and those who would be such, 
must ascertain the facts of divine revelation 
now, in the selfsame manner that the pagans 
and Jews ascertained them in the days of the 
Apostles. If reason — if all our endowments — 
can decree any thing with infallible certainty, 
it will be the fact that the unconverted and 
the heathen must now ascertain the facts of di- 
vine revelation, which the blessed Saviour had 
communicated to the Apostles, before the com- 
mission or divine charter which organized the 
holy Mother Church, in the very same man- 
ner the Jews and pagans ascertained these 
facts, in the lifetime of the primitive Apos- 
tles. In other words, the children of the 
Church, the unconverted and the heathen, 
must be taught divine faith now as then. 
How was that? How did Jews and pagans 
in the apostolic age learn the facts of divine 
revelation? Obviously by apostolic teaching. 
This is a simple fact ; and it is a fact of rea- 
son as well : and reason and all our faculties 
plainly decree its verity; and this decree is 
one of their irreversible ordinances. It stands 



NATURAL REASON. 



347 



forever a law of mind, and every one of its 
constituents. And if reason and our other 
faculties stamp this law with their irreversible 
sanction, they also, and as plainly, ordain 
that, by apostolic teaching, these divinely 
revealed facts must be still taught and learned. 
There has been no divine change in this mat- 
ter. " As it was in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall be," is as yet the unreversed 
decree concerning the mode of teaching divine 
faith. Is it affirmed that this mode, or the 
authority of it, has been changed ? But by 
whom? By the Word of God? Has God 
spoken on the subject of this assumed change ? 
If so, to whom? And when? Nay, verily, 
his Word has not been heard in the matter. 
Whatever change can be shown, has been the 
cunning device of fallible men, and not the 
decree of the eternal God : it has been had 
and seen outside of the Mother Church, and 
not within its walls and before its altars. We 
have said Jews and pagans ascertained the 
facts of divine revelation by apostolic teach- 
ing, and that this truth appeared upon the 
face of the commission or divine charter, 
under which the holy Apostolic Church was 
organized : we say it is expressed in the very 
terms of this charter. Now to the proof ; the 
words of the commission are : " All power is 



348 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go 
ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them 
to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded yotj ; and, lo, I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world. Amen." 
The first thing which strikes the attention of 
the devout observer and sincere inquirer after 
truth, in this divine charter to teach divine 
faith, is that the holy Church, by the authority 
conferred in this constitution and act of per- 
fect organization, is endowed with all the ele- 
ments and the entire nature of her title, name- 
ly, the holy Apostolic Catholic Church. She 
is " holy " because the blessed Redeemer or- 
ganized her — gave her her constitution to 
teach " all things whatsoever " he had com- 
manded ; that is, the very faith before revealed 
unto its consecrated teaching officers. She 
was " apostolic " because her officers were 
consecrated and ordained a perpetual living 
Order and Character of men — a holy priest- 
hood forever : "I am with you until the end 
of the world." The order, the character, the 
office, — in one word, the perpetual priesthood, 
— thus organized by this divine charter, was 
to live (exist) forever; and so live in union 
with its divine Consecrator and Head: u Lo, 



NATURAL REASON. 



349 



I am with you always, even unto the end 
of the world." Peter and James, and John 
and Andrew, and the rest of the men filling 
the office and discharging the duties pertain- 
ing to the order, would die the natural deaths 
of men ; but the order and office of priesthood 
— the sacerdotal teachers — would live forever. 
It was the divinely consecrated order of priest- 
hood with whom Jesus Christ promised to 
be, when he said, "I am with you always, 
even unto the end of the world." It was to 
the order, and not to the personal of the 
priesthood, the promise was made. This is 
self-evident, because the, persons soon died and 
soon ceased to teach the nations. But this 
Church, thus organized, was also " Catholic," 
— that is, universal, — because it was to teach 
"all nations" to do and observe "all things 
whatsoever" which had been revealed to her: 
she was the holy Catholic Apostolic Church. 
And the divinely consecrated order — the per- 
petual priesthood — thus organized and endow- 
ed, and so guaranteed (as it was) by the as- 
surances, the repeated promises of Christ, the 
blessed Saviour, has never faltered "in its mis- 
sion ; and never has, for one moment, doubted 
any one of the promises the divine Founder 
of the Church gave to her for her hopeful 
encouragement. This holy priesthood — this 

80 



350 DIVINE FAITH AND 

holy Apostolic Catholic Church — now believes 
every word of the promises the blessed Jesus 
made to her. Every word. She always has 
believed it. When Caesar and his minions 
and parasites gloated over what they sup- 
posed the last drop of her children's blood, 
and the last breath of the " Nazarene," as 
Csesar was sometimes pleased contemptuously 
to style the blessed Saviour and his Church, — 
in such deadening trials as these the Church 
confided as fully and as hopefully in the prom- 
ises of her divine Founder as she did when 
states and emperors appealed to her wisdom 
and justice to decide upon their grievances 
and to settle their contests. Her faith and 
that of her children stands not in prosperity 
nor in adversity — stands not in power nor in 
suffering, but in the promises of Christ ; in 
" every word which proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God." "For other foundation can 
no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus 
Christ." "That your faith should not stand 
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
God." 

And the devout investigator of truth must 
not let it escape his observation and the convic- 
tions of his conscience, that the holy Apostolic 
Catholic Church, in its constitution is, at its 
organization was, the successor of Jesus Christ, 



NATURAL REASON. 



351 



and in its divine order received from him the 
ministry and the power he had, on earth, from 
his Father. Note it : — the holy Church, as a 
divine order, as a perpetual Priesthood, suc- 
ceeded, on earth, to the divine power and 
authority the blessed Jesus had from his Father. 
The ministerial authority and supernatural 
power he had, on earth, from his Father, he 
transferred to, — " breathed upon," his Church 
as his successor, to "do even greater works 
than himself. There is no observation which 
can be made, on the divine scheme and consti- 
tutional plan of teaching, organized by the 
blessed Saviour, that is plainer and of more 
importance than this. It contains within 
itself thoughts for volumes of meditations. 

The holy Catholic Church succeeded to the 
ministry and power of Jesus Christ on earth. 
The commission begins by the announcement, 
" All power is given unto me in heaven and on 
earth." And in the twentieth chapter of St. 
John's gospel we read : " As the Father hath 
sent me, I also send you. When he had said 
this, he breathed on them, and he said unto 
them ; receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whose sins 
ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them, and 
whose sins ye shall retain they are retained." 
This is one of the marked instances of the fact, 
and but one of many, that the Church sue- 



352 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



ceeded, by divine right and authority, to the 
ministry and power, on earth, which Jesus 
Christ had from his Father. Here supernat- 
ural power is conferred. An office, an order, — 
a perpetual Priesthood is created, to teach for- 
ever, and divine power is conferred upon the 
order with the office. And the supernatural 
power which was thus conferred upon the 
Church, was not limited in time, but limited 
only to the order of divinely consecrated 
teachers. Will the accusers of the Church, 
who so bitterly sneer at her claims to divine 
power and authority, forgive her and her 
children for their faith, when we assure them 
that we believe every word of the promises of 
the ever-blessed Redeemer, who organized her 
and gave her the power he had from his 
Father, and power even to do greater miracles 
than he did ? 

The Church believes and teaches her children 
that they must believe every word of the living 
God, who organized his Church and endowed, 
endowed, endowed it with its spiritual nature 
and functions, without any element of which 
it ceases to be his, would die, and so forfeit 
every word of his promises and every assurance 
of his truth, which the blessed Jesus gave to 
her for her life. The order, the office, the holy 
Priesthood, is to live forever, and live with its 



NATURAL REASON. 



353 



spiritual nature and functions, with Jesus ; and 
is to have with her the abiding power of the 
Holy Spirit, " all days, even unto the end of 
the world.*' In legal terminology, the Church 
which was at first called or selected, was now 
created a spiritual corporation and endowed, 
in the act of creation, as an element of its 
nature, with divine miraculous power. This 
spiritual corporation, by or through its college 
of officers, was to live forever, enjoying its own 
original nature and power : — its nature, func- 
tions, and authority were to abide in it until 
the end of the world : "I will send you another 
comforter, and he shall abide with you for- 
ever." The Father sent the blessed Jesus into 
the world to create, to organize, and institute 
the Church : to constitute it in its divine order 
and character, a perpetual Priesthood. And 
the divine Son sent the Apostles " into all the 
world," with the same supernatural authority 
and perpetual power which he had from his 
Father. Their consecrated successors and they 
are one : " Lo, I am with you always, even unto 
the end of the world. If all ike persons of the 
order did not constitute the Church, the prom- 
ise would fail. It is one order, one Church, 
one Priesthood, having one God, one faith, one 
baptism ; and this lives forever, and Christ 
lives with it, and the Holy Ghost abides in it 

28 30* 



354 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



always. If this were not so, the promise to be 
with "you," the Church, and the promise 
that the Holy Ghost when he cometh shall 
abide in you, the perpetual Priesthood — the 
sacerdotal order, would have been false prom- 
ises. And, independent of the spiritual na- 
ture and constitution of the Church, without 
an element of which it cannot live ; and inde- 
pendent of the reason and necessity of the 
case, combined with the promises of Christ, 
that the authority and power of the primitive 
Church should remain in it, when its original 
members would die ; and independent of the 
many other instances of its exercise, in the 
lifetime of the original Apostles ; there is one 
example so marked in time, and so exact in 
occasion and circumstances, that it is peculiar- 
ly proper to refer to it here. It will be found 
in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, 
and from the 15th to the 26th verses, inclusive. 
This occasion was when a successor to Judas 
Iscariot was ordained to the Apostleship, " To 
be a witness with us of his resurrection." 
Immediately after this, on the day of Pentecost, 
we find the eleven Apostles, and the successor 
to the other, all together, with one accord in 
one place ; and the Holy Spirit which had been 
promised them, to be sent to abide with them 
forever, came upon them. And then they 



NATURAL REASON. 



355 



instantly began to execute the duties of their 
offices, to which they were ordained in the 
order of the perpetual Priesthood. They began 
the ministry of teaching. Then, when the last 
element of the spiritual nature of the Church 
was added to her previous endowments and 
constitutional capacities, she began to teach 
the nations. And the faith she then taught, 
and the ministrations she then established, 
must be taught and ministered forever ; that 
is, unto the end of the world. Apostolic 
teaching — the faith the Apostles taught, must 
be taught to the exclusion of every other ; for 
God commanded this to be taught, and he 
cursed every other form of teaching, as a 
forgery, and therefore an idolatry. "But 
though we or an angel from heaven, preach 
any other gospel unto you than that which we 
have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 
As we said before, so say I now again, if any 
man preach any other gospel unto you than 
that ye have received, let him be accursed." 
Galatians, chap, i., ver. 8-9. " If there come 
any unto you and bring not this doctrine, 
receive him not into your house, neither bid 
him God speed ; for he that biddeth him God 
speed is partaker of his evil deeds." 2d Epis- 
tle of John. 

Hence, it is not an immaterial thing, as the 



356 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



sects assume, whether we teach, believe, and 
practise the faith the Apostles taught or not. 
It is certainly not an immaterial thing to 
preach any other ; for the Apostle, in the ex- 
ecution of his great office, and in the ful- 
filment of his commission, pronounces such 
preacher accursed, though he were an angel 
from heaven who assumed the office, without 
teaching the divine faith revealed. This di- 
vine office, in the holy order of the priesthood, 
cannot be filled by one who is not consecrated 
to teach, and who does not teach apostolic 
faith — the very faith which the primitive Apos- 
tles taught. All other teaching of revelation 
is without any authority from God ; and the 
teachers of such other revelation are profoundly 
anathematized, and they cannot relieve them- 
selves from the judgment of God upon their 
offence, by an allegation of the immateriality 
of their teaching. If immaterial and non- 
essential in its difference from the divine faith 
of the Apostles, why teach it ? Why teach it ? 
Why teach it? All other teaching of faith 
than that divine faith the Apostles taught, is 
an insult to God's grace, a forgery upon his 
truth, and a rebellion against his government, 
and an act of usurpation in exercising his 
authority, that cannot be characterized. 

We will bring this essay to a close in the lan- 



NATURAL REASON. 



357 



guage of our most gifted countryman* upon 
the constitution and organized character of the 
Church. He says : " But the Catholic Church, 
as a body or corporation, the only sense in 
which it is alleged to have any teaching facul- 
ty at all, is not an aggregation of individuals 
who at any time compose it — a body born 
and dying with them, but the contemporary 
of our Lord and his Apostles, in immediate 
communion with them, and thus annihilating 
all distance of time and place between them 
and us. She is, in the sense supposed, a cor- 
poration, and, like every corporation, a col- 
lective individual possessing the attribute of 
immortality. She knows no interruption, no 
succession of moments, no lapse of years. Like 
the eternal God, who is ever with her, and 
whose organ she is, she has duration, but no 
succession. She can never grow old, never 
fall into the past. The individuals who com- 
pose her body may change, but she changes 
not ; one by one they may pass off, and one 
by one be renewed, while she continues ever 
the same ; as in our own bodies, old particles 
constantly escape, and new ones are assim- 
ilated, so that the whole matter of which they 
are composed is changed once in every six or 



See Brownson's Essays, pp. 122, 123. 



358 



DIVINE FAITH AND 



seven years, and yet they remain always iden- 
tically the same bodies. These changes as to 
the individual, change nothing as to the body. 
The Church to-day is identically that very 
body which saw our Lord when he tabernacled 
the flesh. She who is our dear Mother, and 
on whose words we hang with so much de- 
light, beheld with her own eyes the stupen- 
dous miracles which were performed in Judea 
eighteen hundred years ago ; she assisted at 
the preaching of the Apostles on the day of 
Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost descended 
upon them in cloven tongues of fire; she heard 
St. Peter, the prince of the Apostles, relate 
how the Spirit descended upon Cornelius and 
his household, and declare how God had 
chosen that by his mouth the Gentiles should 
hear the Word of God and believe ; she listen- 
ed with charmed ear and ravished heart to 
the last admonition of "the disciple whom 
Jesus loved :" — " My dear children, love one 
another she saw the old temple razed to the 
ground, the legal rights of the old covenant 
abolished, and the once chosen people driven 
out from the Holy Land, and scattered over 
the earth; she beheld pagan Rome, in the 
pride and pomp of power, bled under her 
persecuting emperors, and finally planted the 
cross in triumph on her ruins. She has been 



NATURAL REA80N. 



359 



the contemporary of eighteen hundred years, 
which she has arrested in their flight and made 
present to us, and will make present to all 
generations as they rise. With one hand she 
receives the dejpositum of faith from the Lord 
and his commissioned Apostles ; with the other 
she imparts it to us." 

"What has this body to do, in order to 
decide what books are, and what are not, 
inspired? Merely to declare a simple fact 
which she has received on competent authority 
— merely what our Lord or his Apostles have 
told her. What needs she, to do it with infal- 
lible certainty ? Simply protection against 
forgetting, misunderstanding, and mistating ; 
and this she has, because she has our Lord 
always abiding with her, and the Paraclete, 
who leads her into all truth, and 'brings to 
her remembrance' all the words spoken to 
her by our Lord himself personally, or by his 
inspired Apostles, — keeping her memory al- 
ways fresh, rendering her infallible assistance 
rightly to understand and accurately to express 
what she remembers to have been taught." 



The Divine Office of the Church. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the preceding Essay no direct argument 
has been made to prove the specific dogmas of 
the Church. When any of these has been estab- 
lished it has been incidental to the main pur- 
pose. Since the completion of the Essay, how- 
ever, it has been thought advisable briefly to 
investigate the divine office of the Church. 
In the execution of this office she claims to be 
infallible. And as her infallibility is, at all 
times, impugned by declamatory and even 
violent denunciation, the necessity and reason 
of this claim, and its manifest foundation in 
the Word of God, is the subject of the two 
brief chapters now appended to the Essay. In 
their careful perusal the candid reader, who 
admits and realizes the truths of divine revela- 
tion, as recorded in the written Word, will find 
that the Church, so far from arrogating to her- 
self an impossible and absurd power, bases her 
claim upon the purest teachings of reason as 
well as the sublime and positive truths of rev- 



364 



INTRODUCTION. 



elation. She claims to be infallible in the ex- 
ecution of her divine office. This office is 
teaching divine faith or revelation to all the 
world for all time ; and so teaching it as not 
to change or corrupt the truths which she was 
organized and commanded to teach. She 
claims she can execute, and does execute, this 
office faithfully, without adulterating any of 
the revealed truth. And the foundation and 
reality of this claim, in reason and revelation, 
is the question which is discussed in the fol- 
lowing chapters, with such precision and dis- 
tinctness, it is hoped, that if they be not in- 
structive, they will not be tedious. 

THE AUTHOK. 



THE DIVINE OFFICE OF THE CHURCH. 



CHAPTEE I. 

The Infallibility of the Chukoh, in hee Office of 
Teaching Divine Keyelation, examined. 

The infallibility of the Holy, Apostolic, and 
Catholic Church, in her office of teaching di- 
vine faith or revelation, is the rock upon 
which rests the faith of all her children and 
the hope of the world. Those who accuse her 
doctrinal teaching, because she claims to be in- 
fallible, and affirms that she never has adul- 
terated the divine truths she was commanded 
to teach forever, are literally blind as to the 
nature of their accusation. These accusers do 
not perceive the logical and actual horrors 
necessarily contained in their arguments for 
the Church's fallibility. They do not know 
that their accusation and arraignment involve 
an assumption of a fact which is at once a de- 
thronement of God and a contradiction of his 
divine word. To deny infallibility to the 
teaching of divine faith, by her, in the execu- 



366 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



tion of her office, is surely no ordinary asser- 
tion, as we shall see in the investigation of its 
character. Both in its nature and conse- 
quences, the denial is fearfully portentous. 
In its nature, because it is equivalent to an 
assertion that God commanded a system of 
truths, to be taught to all the world forever, 
which he knew would not and could not be 
taught ; but that some error or errors of human 
opinion would be taught instead of the divine 
faith which he commanded. In its conse- 
quences (man alone considered), because if the 
Church be not infallible, when executing her 
office, the human family can never know 
whether what is taught be false or true. 
How is it possible for it to ascertain the 
truth, unless it be taught with infallible cer- 
tainty ? The preacher who appears before 
men to teach them divine faith, and yet can- 
not assure them that what he teaches is divine 
revelation, and not human opinion, assumes a 
position at once daringly and ignobly wicked. 
He announces himself an ambassador from 
God to teach his divine word ; and, in the 
very breath and act of such annunciation, 
affirms that he has no assurance whether he 
teaches truth or falsehood. He may give his 
opinion with perfect sincerity ; but when he 
is asked if he can assure the children of his 



OF THE CHURCH. 367 

instruction, that what he teaches is the very 
truth the Saviour revealed to the Apostles, 
and which they taught to their disciples, he is 
at fault — he cannot affirm whether it is so or 
not ; that is, whether his teaching be true or 
false. Surely this is a frightful position for 
poor mortal man to occupy. And no other 
can any teacher of divine faith occupy who 
cannot, under the gaze of the Omnipotent 
God, assure those whom he teaches that his 
teachings are infallibly true ; that is, that 
they are the very truths which the blessed 
Jesus had revealed to his Church before he 
gave the Apostles the divine commission to 
teach all nations. The accusers of the Church, 
however, have very vague, and even wild and 
absurd notions as to her infallibility. They 
are, generally, in profound error as to the 
nature and elements of her securities against 
false teaching. The three hundred years 
during which they have been in bondage to 
heresy, have so obliterated from their minds 
the traditions of their fathers, which they ob- 
served before they went into captivity, that 
now they do not know in what the infallibili- 
ty of the Church consists. They are, in the 
main, wholly mistaken as to the nature and 
character of this immunity from error which 
the Church possesses. 



368 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



Hence, for their sakes, it is necessary to cor- 
rect their false ideas, and to distinguish them 
from the truth which the Church teaches con- 
cerning her infallibility. In what, then, con- 
sists the Church's infallibility? It does not 
consist in the impeccability (sinlessness) of 
priests, bishops, and the supreme pontiff,, for 
these are sinful men, "with like passions" 
with their spiritual children. The pope has 
his confessor, and so have bishops and priests. 
But, if sinful men, how can they teach divine 
faith infallibly ? and why may not heretical 
preachers so teach as well as they ? Heretical 
preachers cannot teach divine faith infallibly, 
because they do not pretend they can do so ; 
secondly, because they have no standard of 
truth which they agree to as teaching " one 
God, one faith, one baptism thirdly, because 
divine faith was not revealed to them ; fourth- 
ly, because they have no commission ; fifthly, 
because they have no promises that they will 
be protected from error, any more than they 
have pretences that they are, in fact, free from 
it in their several teachings. But the Church 
claims, and always has claimed, that she 
teaches divine faith infallibly. And how is it 
that her priesthood can do so ? They are sin- 
ful men, it is conceded ; how then can these 
sinners teach the divine truths revealed to the 



OF THE CHURCH. 



369 



Church by our blessed Saviour, without any 
adulteration or mixture of falsehood ? The 
priesthood or sacerdotal order is an order of 
officers. An order of officers. They are the 
teaching order, and were constituted to teach 
divine faith to " all nations, even unto the 
consummation of the world ;" that is, to all 
nations for all time. The sacerdotal order 
then execute an office. They execute ast 
office. And the question is, can they execute 
it as instructed and commanded by their di- 
vine Master, or not ? In the solution of this 
question is involved the fact of the infallibility 
of the Church's teaching. Can the officers ex- 
ecute the duties of the office ? Can they do it 
and be sinful men, who confess their sins to 
one another, in obedience to one of the duties 
imposed upon them by their office ? 

There is no reason, in the nature of things 
(apart from their divine constitution), why they 
cannot. Despoil the sacerdotal order of the 
continual protection of the Holy Ghost, and 
yet there would seem, in the analogies of na- 
ture and the institutions of men, some assur- 
ances for the ability of the Church to execute 
her commission ; some security that she would 
fulfil the divine command imposed upon her 
at her institution. But, with the perpetual 
communion and presence of the blessed Jesus 

24 



370 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



and the Holy Ghost, her securities are un- 
doubted, because they are just such as her di- 
vine Founder deemed necessary to her suffi- 
ciency in teaching truth instead of error. 
Among natural things, we observe nothing 
which corrupts its primary nature and departs 
(of itself) from the original constitution im- 
pressed upon it by its Creator. In the affairs 
of men, the same thing (integrity to constitu- 
tion) is not only possible, but probable and 
common. A judge of our courts may, per- 
sonally, be immoral — may be profane and lie, 
for instance ; and he may, and generally does, 
execute the duties of his office with unflinch- 
ing adherence to the constitution of the state. 
So may senators, sheriffs, and clerks. These 
may all violate the moral law, and yet, with 
rigorous exactitude and with unaccused recti- 
tude, execute the duties of their offices in ac- 
cordance with the constitution and laws of the 
civil state, and to the entire satisfaction of the 
people. Hence it is seen how men may be 
naturally sinners and officially righteous. And 
it is also seen that among natural things noth- 
ing, of itself, departs from the constitution 
which God stamps upon it, in its order. But 
it is especially to be remarked, that in the 
affairs of men, under any political constitution, 
there is not the slightest necessity for them, 



OF THE CHURCH. 



371 



though morally sinful, to be officially corrupt : 
that official integrity is perfectly compatible 
with personal immorality. God has, as merci- 
fully as wisely, made them entirely consistent, 
else official corruption would universally dis- 
grace every institution of man, just as uni- 
versal error would disgrace and blight all the 
teachings of the Christian religion, if the 
Church were not infallible. Let every soul of 
earth thank God that he has made personal 
immorality consistent with official integrity in 
the affairs of men. Is it consistent with his 
mercy, and our reason, to believe that he has 
acted with less wisdom and less mercy in the 
constitution of his Church ? 

And, finally, it is demonstrated to the most 
obtuse intellect how it is, that while the sacer- 
dotal order is constituted of sinful men, they 
are infallible in the execution of their office, 
which is the teaching the facts of divine reve- 
lation truly and not falsely, purely and not 
corruptly. 

And it is to be remembered that the dem- 
onstration, thus far, is made on natural and 
political principles with which every man is 
familiar. 

But the Church invokes higher and more 
certain principles than these, to assure the 
world of the infallibility of her teaching. 



372 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



She has a divine constitution. She is divinely 
endowed. Her being is in the spiritual order. 
In the spiritual order it would seem, then, that 
she could no more depart, of herself, from the 
principles of her organization, than a rock 
would, of itself, depart from the principles of 
its organization in the natural order. God 
constitutes both, each in its order. He con- 
stitutes each for a purpose, in its place. And 
there can be no reason imagined why one will 
corrupt its own nature more than the other. 
If there be, there is vastly more certainty in 
the Church remaining incorrupt and true to 
her constitution, in her order, than the rock in 
its order ; for she is intelligent, and has a com- 
mand imposed on her to teach other intelli- 
gences unchanging truth ; and upon the recep- 
tion of and obedience to her teaching of this 
eternal truth, the happiness of all other moral 
intelligences on earth is made to depend. So 
that the Church must be more true to the 
principles of her constitution in the spiritual 
order, than the rock is in the natural, if either 
can frustrate the intent and decrees of the 
eternal God, in the uses for which they were 
organized. 

But has the Church a divine commission or 
constitution by which she is organized as the 
authoritative spiritual teacher of the world ? 



OF THE CHURCH. 



373 



Has she authority, by divine institution, to 
teach revealed faith to all nations ? If she 
has, it is now beyond dispute that she can ex- 
ecute her office, though the sacerdotal order 
be sinful men. Has she the commission and 
authority, and are these divine ? 

Undoubtedly she has ; and here it is, as re- 
corded by St. Matthew, eight years after it 
was sealed. I quote it from the Protestant 
version : " Then the eleven disciples went 
away into Galilee, into a mountain where Je- 
sus had appointed them. And when they saw 
him, they worshipped him ; but some doubted. 
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, 
All power is given unto me in heaven and in 
earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you : and, lo, I am with you al- 
way, even unto the end of the world. Amen." 

The first question which presents itself on 
the face of this divine authority and constitu- 
tion is, what was the Church commanded to 
teach ? To teach and observe all things he had, 
before that time, commanded the teaching or- 
der. No more, no less. He had before that 
revealed to them certain truths, and had set 
before them certain observances, and upon 

32 



374 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



these, whatever they were, depended the eter 
nal happiness of the human race. Upon these 
very truths, in their fulness and exactitude, 
depended the salvation of mankind. (Mark 
xvi. 16.) Hence the very moment the Church 
failed to teach them exactly as revealed to the 
sacerdotal order, that moment she became fal- 
lible, and in the same instant the world was 
lost, the mission and teaching and blood of 
Jesus Christ was a failure, and teaching error 
instead of divine truth was henceforth the 
office of the Church. Are these pregnant and 
terrible doctrines admissible interpolations up- 
on the divine commission? Let the accusers 
of the Church consider the question. It is a 
self-evident teaching of reason itself that the 
Church, when she was thus divinely instituted, 
organized, and commissioned, thus fresh and 
new born in the endowments of her Creator, 
was- an infallible teacher, whom the whole 
world was bound to believe and to implicitly 
obey. But the world was to believe and obey 
forever, for so long was the Church command- 
ed to teach the very truths revealed. We let 
this pass, however. At the moment then of 
her organization, the Church was infallible. 
Her constitution was divine ; her mission was 
divine ; her teaching was the immediate reve- 
lation of Divinity. All this is beyond question. 



OF THE CHURCH. 



375 



Thus far we have an infallible Church. And 
her office and single duty was to teach the exact 
truth which had been revealed to her sacerdo- 
tal order by her divine Founder. 

Now, could she lose her divine constitution 
and authority ? This is a grave question. If 
she could, and did, then her accusers are right 
in disobeying her authority by discrediting her 
teaching ; but they are manifestly wrong in 
teaching any other thing than those things 
which she taught and observed before she 
changed her divine constitution, and frustra- 
ted the design of her divine Founder in her 
organization. This is too manifest for discus- 
sion. If she has changed her divine constitu- 
tion — that is, if she has corrupted the teaching 
of the divine facts revealed to her for some 
other things which were not revealed, then, of 
course, whoever so asserts can point to the 
time and place when and where this change 
of falsehood for revealed truth took place ; 
they can specify the very truth or truths she 
changed into a lie ; they can tell us by whom 
this was done. But this has never been done, 
and never will be. Yet the Church does not 
place her infallibility upon a question between 
the general declamation of her accusers and 
their inability to put specific facts in issue. 
She stands upon a much surer foundation 



376 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



than the defects in the assertions and logic of 
her accusers. She stands clothed in the vest- 
ments of truth, in which Almighty God ar- 
rayed her when he endowed her ; she stands 
mailed in the armor of his unfailing promises, 
and fortified by the presence of the blessed 
Jesus and the Holy Ghost. She says and 
teaches that she was infallible, has always 
been infallible, and always will be infallible, 
in the execution of her office, which is teach- 
ing divinely revealed faith to the world. She 
affirms this on the precise and definite prom- 
ises of God. If she makes good the declara- 
tion that she affirms her infallibility on the 
" precise and definite promises of God," then 
whoever affirms her fallibility disputes the 
promises of God. This is a clear position, 
and one full of eternal consequences. It is a 
fact, then, or it is not a fact, that the Church 
can affirm her unfailing infallibility on dis- 
tinct and unambiguous promises of God ; and 
that, if she can, whoever denies her affirma- 
tion, contradicts Almighty God. 

Has the Church, then, the promise of God 
that she shall be forever free from error in 
the execution of her office of teaching divine 
faith ? She has such promises — always has 
had. They are specific and definite. The first 
one that ought to challenge the attention and 



OF THE CHUEOH. 



377 



arrest the profound consideration of her accu- 
sers, is contained in the commission itself. It 
follows the command to execute the duties of 
the office into which the sacerdotal order was 
then installed. It is in these words : " And 
lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
the world. Amen." The blessed Jesus him- 
self is with the teaching order. With them! 
With the sacerdotal or teaching order, always. 
Always ! Yes, even unto the end of the world. 
He gave his promise to be with his Church al- 
ways ; he was with her then, and he promised 
to be so forever. This promise is a part of her 
divine constitution, and one of its miraculous 
elements ; so miraculous that her adversaries 
deny it — dispute the word of God contained 
in a glorious and consoling promise. They 
deny it. The issue being such, who is to be 
believed : the Church, standing on the word 
of promise ; or her accusers, who deny the sa- 
cred n ess of its truth? " The real presence of 
Christ" in the Church is a miraculous fact, or 
he never revealed a truth to the sacerdotal or- 
der, and never commanded them to teach any 
revealed truth to the world forever. His real 
presence, then, is one security against error 
in the execution of her divine office, and one 
of infinite sufficiency. In St. John's Gospel, 
xvii. 22, this delegation of divine power to the 
32* 



378 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



Church is thus described: "And the glory 
which thou hast given me, I have given to 
them, that they may be one, as we also are 
one." "And I have made known thy name 
to them, and will make it known ; that the 
love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in 
them, and I in them." " I have given them 
thy word." "I do not ask that thou take 
them out of the world, but that thou preserve 
them from evil." " They are not of the world, 
as I am not of the world." "As thou hast 
sent me into the world, I also send them into 
the world, and for them I do sanctify myself, 
that they may be sanctified in truth." " Thy 
word is truth." (John xvii.) 

Whoever will casually look into the written 
word (the only authority with the Church's 
accusers), will find very many evidences of 
Christ's unity and residence with his Church. 

But there are also many distinct promises 
that another person of the Holy Trinity, name- 
ly, the Holy Ghost, shall be received into and 
reside with the Church organized by the bless- 
ed Saviour. Some of these are : " I have many 
things to say to you ; but you cannot bear them 
now. But when the Spirit of truth shall come, 
he will teach you all truth ; for he shall not 
speak of himself ; but what things soever he 
shall hear, he shall speak ; and the things that 



OF THE CHURCH. 



379 



are to come, he will show you. He shall glori- 
fy me ; because he shall receive of me, and will 
declare it unto you." (John xvi.) " But when 
the Paraclete shall come, whom I will send you 
from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who pro- 
ceedeth from the Father, he shall give testi- 
mony of me. And you shall give testimony, 
because you are with me from the beginning." 
(John xv.) " These things I have spoken to 
you, remaining with you. But when the Par- 
aclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will 
send in my name, he will teach you all things, 
and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever 
I shall have said to you. And I will ask the 
Father, and he shall send you another Para- 
clete, that he may abide with you forever. 
The Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot 
receive ; because it seeth him not, nor know- 
eth him ; but you shall know him ; because he 
shall abide with you, and shall be in you." 
(John xiv.) 

These promises are very definite. No lan- 
guage can be more explicit than these declara- 
tions, which are statements assuring the Church 
that Jesus Christ organized the gift, resi- 
dence, and office of the Holy Ghost in her 
body. " The Church is the body of Christ." 
The three important, consoling, and unerring 
facts contained in these statements, made in 



380 



THE DIVINE OFFICE. 



the form of a promise, are the gift, the resi- 
dence, and the office of the Holy Ghost, to be 
with the sacerdotal order, in the execution of 
their office forever. To whom were these 
promises made % Who was endowed, in their 
fulfilment, with their efficacy, power, use, and 
authority ? Assuredly, the sacerdotal order, 
in Christ's Church — the very Church he or- 
ganized. The teaching order, the priesthood, 
of that very Church which the Saviour organ- 
ized to teach the faith he had revealed to this 
Church to teach and observe forever. To no 
other order was the revelation of the faith, to 
be taught, made ; to no other was the prom- 
ise made. To this order, alone, did he give 
the assurance, that " whosoever heareth you 
heareth me ;" and to no other did he give a 
command to teach, with the assurance that 
" He that believeth and is baptized, shall be 
saved ; but he that believeth not, shall be con- 
demned." (Mark xvi. 16.) Hence the ne- 
cessity of the gift, residence, and office of the 
Holy Ghost. The eternal consequences which 
were linked to her teaching, demanded the in- 
fallibility of the Church, in the execution of 
her divine office. Belief in her teaching se- 
cures eternal life ; disbelief is visited with 
eternal condemnation. If the Church does not 
teach the very truth revealed to her, neither 



OF THE CHUKCH. 



381 



consequence can follow. The human family 
cannot be saved by believing a teaching which 
is not the revealed truth, nor condemned for 
disbelieving falsehoods which may be taught 
in its stead. This is so self-evident, that rea- 
son itself must rise and affirm, that either God 
never organized a Church, with the securities 
against error on which Jesus Christ alleged 
he founded her forever ; or that she has not, 
and cannot, in the administration of her office, 
change the facts on which the salvation of 
the human race depends. This, in the con- 
science of reason (so to speak), secures the 
world against indifferent errors and indiffer- 
ent truths, as the Church's accusers are pleased 
to style them ; for either no indifferent truths 
were revealed, or, by the fact of their revela- 
tion, and the fact that they were commanded 
to be taught and obeyed, under such fearful 
consequences, they became divinely material 
truths. But the idea that Christ revealed in- 
different or immaterial truths — that is, truths 
which it made no difference whether they were 
taught, and if taught, whether they were be- 
lieved or not, is surely a blasphemy. Cer- 
tainly no imputation can be made more dis- 
honoring to Gpd than that he should reveal, 
for the instruction of mankind, either immate- 
rial truths or immaterial errors (and the differ- 



382 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



ence is not very apparent), and command them 
to be taught to the world, with a promise of 
life to those who believed them, and a threat 
of death to those who believed them not. The 
fool, in his drunken revels, would hardly act 
in so reckless a manner. The promises, then, 
were made to the sacerdotal order. For what ? 
For what purpose was the gift and office of the 
Holy Ghost ? The gift and office are, of course, 
inseparable. "What then is the office of the 
Holy Ghost in the Church ? The functions of 
this office are surely not useless— not immate- 
rial. That the Holy Ghost resides or abides 
in the Church " forever" is true, or the words 
of Christ are untrue. If he does not reside in 
that same Church which Christ established, 
then his promise has become a false assurance, 
and there is no Christian Church founded on 
revealed truth, and teaching it forever. And 
if he resides in the same Church the Saviour 
established, then he executes an office in that 
Church, though " the world seeth him not" in 
the discharge of its functions. The Holy Ghost 
does execute an office in the Church which 
Jesus Christ established, or else his promise is 
untrue. His office, thus residing, is twofold 
— has two grand characteristips or functions : 
First, to teach and guide her into all truth ; 
secondly, to bring to her mind or remembrance 



OF THE CHURCH. 



383 



" all things whatsoever" the blessed Jesus had 
revealed to her before he gave her her au- 
thority. These things, whatever they were, 
are exactly what he commanded her to teach 
forever. And these same things the Holy 
Ghost is forever to bring to her mind while 
she is administering the duties of her own 
office. She is thns not only guided into " all 
truth," but she has her guide as a remem- 
brance to remind her, on all proper occasions, 
of the " all things whatsoever" that were re- 
vealed to her by the Lord Jesus Christ. Is 
she not a glorious institution ? Can she err in 
the execution of her divine office ? We must 
discredit the divine word before we can so be- 
lieve. For these facts establish, beyond ques- 
tion, to any mind which realizes the truth of 
divine revelation, even in the written Word, 
that the Church which Jesus Christ organized 
is as infallible to-day in the execution of her 
office of teaching divine faith, or revelation, as 
she was on the day he gave her her commis- 
sion and authority. If we credit divine revela- 
tion, reason can give us no higher assurance 
of any truth than she does of this : that the 
Church which he constituted to teach divine 
revelation, is as infallible now as it was when 
he endowed her, and then instantly ascended 
to his Father. His Word and promises have 



384 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



failed if this be not so. His mission is more 
than a failure ; it is an entire fabrication, 
having no foundation in fact, if this be not 
unqualifiedly true. There is no escape from 
the dilemma, no evasions or subterfuges will 
avail ; it must be admitted that his Church is 
as infallible a teacher, that she executes the 
duties of her office as unerringly now, as she 
was and did on the day of his ascension ; or 
else his whole life is an imposture, and his en- 
tire teaching a fabrication. Such precision in 
statements, and such definiteness in promises, 
are exactly true, or they are utterly false when 
uttered by a teacher, assuming to be divine. 
The accusers of the Church must take one 
position or the other. They cannot, they must 
not, say that the promises were made, but that 
the Church has corrupted the revealed facts 
she was constituted to teach forever. For, in 
so doing, they as directly contradict his words 
and promises, as much dishonor him as they 
would if they plainly denounced him as a false 
teacher. He is a false teacher if his Church 
has, in fact, changed or corrupted the truths 
he organized her to teach. It must be granted, 
then, that the Church the blessed Jesus organ- 
ized, is as infallible a teacher to-day as she was 
on the day of her organization. 

But no other Church, now existing, then 



OF THE CHURCH. 



385 



existed, except the Holy Catholic Apostolic 
Church ; no other even claims to reach back, 
in time, to the day of Christ's ascension. 
None other. Hence she must be the infalli- 
ble Church of that day and of this. This 
patent fact, namely, that the Church which 
Jesus Christ constituted, is, necessarily, infal- 
lible (and, therefore, if any Church now ex- 
isting be infallible, it must be the same that 
he endowed), is what compels the Reformed 
churches (so called) to deny infallibility to 
any church. They are fifteen hundred years 
too late in the world to be the same Chuech 
which he breathed upon, and commissioned 
to exercise his miraculous authority on earth. 
Being so, they declaim against infallible au- 
thority belonging to any church. They de- 
nounce such claim as arrogant and absurd. 
But from the clear statements of Jesus Christ, 
they only declaim against his Word, while they 
are denouncing his Church. It is folly and 
madness to clamor against her endowments so 
long as they are the simple expression and ful- 
filment of his promises. Hence, fact, candor, 
and logic, all require them to cease to pretend 
to any faith in his Word, while they continue 
to defame his Holy Catholic and Apostolic 
Church, by denying her infallible authority 

IN TFTE EXECUTION' OF HER DIVINE OFFICE, which is 

26 33 



386 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



the office of teaching the very faith he revealed, 
and commanded her to teach to all nations, 
even unto the consummation of the world. 



CHAPTEE II. 

The Infallibility of the Church in her Office of 
Teaohing Divine Revelation. Objections consid- 
ered. The Church is hee own Witness. "The 
Vicious Circle, " a Misstatement of the Question. 
It is First, Sinister ; Secondly, Absurd ; Thirdly, 
Necessarily Untrue. It is Unreasonable and In- 
credible. 

Inasmuch as the Church rests her claim to 
infallibility, in her office of teaching divine 
faith, upon the promises of Christ, her divine 
Founder, it would seem when she vindicates 
her claim by these promises, that then no ob- 
jection could possibly be made against her im- 
munity from error by any who pretend to be- 
lieve in a revealed religion. To such it would 
seem that the word and promises of God ought 
to be supreme authority, against which the 
shafts of malignity itself would bow in sub- 
dued, if not in humble, acquiescence ; and that 
the perversions of human ingenuity would, not 
dare to rise in contest with the clear state- 



OF THE CHURCH. 



387 



ments and testimonies of the Eternal God. 
But such has not been the case. Error, in its 
unconsciousness of delusion, or in wilful oppo- 
sition to divine teaching, has even questioned 
the sufficiency of the divine statements to as- 
sure the world that his Church can and must 
execute her office without error in its execu- 
tion. Error maintains that his promises are 
not reliable testimonies, and such as the world 
can trust for the claim that the Holy, Apostolic 
Church, organized and endowed by the blessed 
Jesus, teaches the very truth he revealed to 
her, instead of falsehoods which he did not 
nor could reveal, and command to be taught. 
The most delusive of all the sophisms by which 
this terrible conclusion is reached, is that which 
the accusers of the Church have styled " the 
vicious circle," and not inaptly, as we shall 
see. This is considered a model of artistic 
skill by the Church's accusers ; and they have 
wielded it with great self-delusive power on 
the battle-field of Christian polemics, and to 
the destruction of millions of souls who were 
guided to their final end, more, however, by 
the canons of prejudice than the canons of 
logic. This model of self-delusion is phrased 
by Dr. Watts in these terms : — " A vicious cir- 
cle is when two propositions, equally uncer- 
tain, are used to prove each other. Thus the 



388 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



papists prove the authority of the Scriptures 
by the infallibility of their Church, and they 
prove the infallibility of their Church from the 
authority of the Scriptures." 

The only objection to this statement, as it 
stands, is that it is sinister, absurd, and untrue. 
That it is sinister, will be seen by and by. 
That it is absurd, is evident, when we con- 
sider the force of the term " infallible," as ap- 
plied to divine teaching. "We have seen that 
" infallibility," in this use of that term, means, 
that the Church, in the execution of office, can 
and does execute the office free from any 
official corruption; that she teaches the truths 
of divine revelation exactly as they were re- 
vealed to her, when she was commanded to 
teach them, forever. Hence the proposition is 
absurd, because whenever the Church estab- 
lishes any revealed fact by her infallibility, 
the infallibility is a witness, of course, to all 
the faith revealed to her by her divine Master, 
which he constituted her to teach. She needs 
no other witness ; for if her teaching be infal- 
lible, then whatever faith she instructs her 
children to receive and practise must be the 
very truth which was revealed to her. Her 
divine constitution or organization is her own 
witness, and she can have no other. The 
statement is, of necessity, untrue, when we 



OF THE CHURCH. 



389 



consider the necessary order of the two facts / 
namely, the divine constitution of the Church 
and the composition and publication of the sa- 
cred writings. Their relation to each other, in 
the order of time, and the successive periods of 
time in which the Scriptures themselves were 
written, stamp the objectionable statement as 
a very remarkable misconception, or wilful 
perversion of the real state of the case. The 
argument " from the Scriptures," by Catholics 
to the accusers of the Church, is simply an 
argument ad hominem. 

As such, it cannot be evaded, either by un- 
skilful mistakes or criminal perversions. Its 
force, as such, is stunning, unanswerable, and 
overwhelming. Now, what is the real state 
of the case, the fact, based on this argument % 
It is this : the Church, in obedience to the di- 
vine command enjoined on her at her institu- 
tion, comes with the infallible authority of her 
organization — with the indorsements her di- 
vine Master conferred on her at his ascension, 
to " teach all nations." This was eight years 
before the first gospel was written, and sixty- 
three years before the gospel of St. John and 
the Apocalypse were written. But of this di- 
rectly. The Church comes with her divine 
constitution, and hence infallible authority, to 
" teach all nations, even unto the consumma- 

88* 



390 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



tion of the world." This divine constitution 
is her birth, her power, her existence or being, 
from which her successive miracles in all ages 
flow. Her trophies, in the conversion of na- 
tions, follow from her constitution, an element 
of which is miraculous capacity. (1 Cor. xii. 
10.) And this element cannot be lost without 
her ceasing to be what her God created her, 
namely, an infallible teacher. Her constitu- 
tion, her organization, her endowments, are 
gifts fresh from the hand of God, freely be- 
stowed upon her by his divine revelation, will, 
pleasure, and grace ; and are facts, and not the 
creations of logical propositions, whether these 
can stand the tests of the science, or whether 
its canons can elicit their viciousness and ex- 
pose their fallaciousness or not. 

But when the Church in her progress, in the 
order of time, of teaching all nations, in obe- 
dience to her revealed charter and its behests, 
comes with her divine constitution, by which 
she was divinely organized an infallible teach- 
er, " even unto the consummation of the world," 
she is met in her divine pathway (fifteen hun- 
dred years after her organization) by heretics, 
who interpose a protest against her mission, in 
the execution of the divine command and obli- 
gations imposed upon her by her nature and 
office. And they say to her : " You are neither 



OF THE CHURCH. 



391 



infallible nor credible, because you bear wit- 
ness to yourself." And just here, at this ex- 
act point, the Church presents to her accusers 
the argument ad hominem. She says to them : 
" Yery well. Here are twenty-eight small 
tracts, comprised in four Gospels, one of Acts, 
twenty-two Epistles, and a Prophetic Vision, 
which were written by my children, under 
the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, concerning 
my origin, my character, and my divine mis- 
sion, and giving an account of some of my acts 
and miracles, in some of the nations taught 
by me in the first century of my existence. 
These tracts, which are the New Testament, 
you believe to be inspired and infallible truth ; 
so do I ; and ' they are they which testify of 
me.' These tracts you allow to be credible 
witnesses, and I allow them to be such. I 
agree that they are true, and know they are ; 
for, in virtue of my infallible authority, the 
Holy Ghost guiding me into all truth, I have 
pronounced upon them and decided them true, 
and have preserved them free from human 
corruptions for all generations of men, as un- 
doubted and infallible truth. You agree . (I 
know upon what evidence) that they are di- 
vine and revealed truth. To them, then, we 
will appeal as a common standard of truth, in 
whose statements we both assure the world we 



392 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



confide, and submit to their decision the judg- 
ment of my infallibility. By these tracts alone 
I will submit to be tried, for the purposes of 
our controversy. I will waive, in this instance, 
my own testimony, by means of which I origi- 
nally and always converted the heathen, and 
by which my divine constitution and endow- 
ments authorize me to be adjudged, and will 
submit to the tribunal selected by you, and 
known to me as one of infallible truth when 
its decisions are understood and correctly in- 
terpreted. A false interpretation of divine 
truth, of course, is no evidence in the case. 
The mind of God in the written Word, and 
not a human opinion concerning that Word, 
is the matter to be ascertained in the investi- 
gation and decision." This is the way, in this 
precise manner, does the Church appeal to 
the Scriptures to vindicate her infallibility, 
against the protest of her accusers. It is thus 
she makes to them the argument ad hominem. 
In other and a few words, all this may be 
stated thus : The Church submits, upon the 
protest against her authority, to a tribunal se- 
lected by heretics, to an authority which they 
recognize as infallible. And when the deci- 
sion is rendered against them on the appeal, 
they, with the utmost simplicity, turn upon 
her and say : "Ah, the judgment of this infal- 



OF THE CHUHCH. 



393 



lible tribunal, to which we have by common 
consent referred this contest, is of no account, 
no force or validity; for yon papists prove 
your authority to teach all nations by the in- 
fallibility of your Church, and you prove the 
infallibility of your Church by the Scriptures. 
That's false logic ; that's the ' vicious circle.' " 
This is the real state of the case, so far as the 
logical fallacy of the "vicious circle" is con- 
cerned ; and this is a fair sample of the or- 
ganic or rather chronic acuteness of Protest- 
ant controvertists in the art of logic. Their 
position does not reach the dignity of a logical 
fallacy, growing out of the insequence of their 
propositions. It is a bald misstatement of the 
case ; a misrepresentation of the facts as they 
are, to cover a conviction before a tribunal of 
their own selection for the trial of their 
cause. 

I have said that the position of Protestants 
is one which destroys the necessary order of 
the two facts ; namely, the divine constitution 
and organization of the Church, and the wri- 
ting of the New Testament Scriptures. It is 
a necessity, in the nature of things, that the 
Church must have been divinely constituted, 
and endowed with her attributes, her life and 
functions, her faith and missions, her divine 
office and authority in virtue of it, before any 



394 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



written account could be made of the fact. 
This is self-evident, necessarily so ; hence the 
conclusive nature of the Church's own testi- 
mony as to her divine institution, and its su- 
periority over any subsequently written ac- 
count of it, if either the Church or the sacred 
Scriptures had to yield to the other. But, 
blessed be God, the Catholic is put to no such 
horrible alternative. But wherefore the sinis- 
ter insinuation which quails and cannot look 
you in the eye, as you fasten your gaze upon 
its insidious position in the allegation against 
the Church ? I mean the qualifying terms, 
" equally uncertain ;" " a vicious circle is 
when two propositions, equally uncertain, are 
used to prove each other." 

The divine organization and endowments of 
the Church and the infallible truth of the 
Scriptures, are not " equally uncertain" to 
" Papists ;" but they are two facts, alike se- 
cure and infallibly certain, and both resting 
on the eternal and unchanging truth of Al- 
mighty God. Are they equally uncertain to 
Protestants ? If so, they deny both ; for they 
unquestionably deny the infallibility of the 
Church. This covert assertion, shrinking back, 
as it were, to screen itself from the penetrating 
and manly eye of truth, manifestly was in- 
tended to steal a significance of some sort. 



OF THE CMtTRCH. 



395 



And, as it has no sort of applicability to the 
sentiments and faith of the Church, its gen- 
nine idea, when dragged from its ensconce- 
ment, must be a strong unuttered opinion, that 
neither the Church nor the sacred Scriptures 
rest with infallible certainty on divine author- 
ity. Doubtless dubitance on this subject was 
the actual sentiment of the adroit logician, 
however unawakened into a distinct recogni- 
tion and full consciousness, the doubt may 
have been sleeping in his soul. 

Now, let us see when the tracts comprised 
in the New Testament were written. St. Mat- 
thew's gospel was written a. d., 41 ; St. Mark, 
43 ; St. Luke, 57 ; St. John's gospel, 96. The 
Acts were written a. d., 63, or later, for it 
brings up the transactions to that time ; Ro- 
mans, 60 ; 1 Corinthians, 59 ; 2 Corinthians, 
60 ; Gallatians, 58 ; Ephesians, 64 ; Philippi- 
ans, 64 ; Colossians, 64 ; 1 Thessalonians, 54 ; 
2 Thessalonians, 54 ; 1 Timothy, 65 ; 2 Tim- 
othy, 65 ; Philemon, 64 ; Titus, 65 ; Hebrews, 
64 ; 1 Peter, 60 ; 2 Peter, 66 ; 1 John, 90 ; 2 
John, 90 ; 3 John, 90 ; St. Jude, 66 ; Revela- 
tion, 96. Thus it is manifest that the Church 
was divinely constituted and organized to 
teach all nations, and bore her testimony to 
the fact, for eight years before the first tract of 
the New Testament was written, and for sixty- 



396 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



three years before the gospel of St. John and 
the Revelation, were written. Upon what 
grounds could Protestants rest an argument 
for their opinions before the New Testament 
was begun, or before it was completed ? This 
is a question as difficult to evade by the faulty 
logic of a misstatement, as that which the 
"vicious circle" seeks to elude. They must 
hold that for eight or sixty-three years— ac- 
cording as they rely on the first tract, or the 
completion of all, for their evidence — that the 
Church has no evidence upon which to con- 
vince the world of her divine origin and au- 
thority. For this period she was a teacher 
without any authority to teach. Such is their 
inevitable position, and the "vicious circle" 
cannot hide it from ordinary scrutiny. And 
upon what did the holy Church rest her 
authority in these years, in which there was 
no New Testament, to " teach all nations ?" 
Simply upon the divine power communicated 
to her by her divine Founder. This is the 
rock upon which she ever rests. Before the 
tracts comprised in the New Testament were 
written by the children of the Church, and, of 
course, before she had stamped upon them the 
seal of infallible truth, — an infallibility which, 
however impressed, heretics do not generally 
deny, — the holy Apostolic Church had borne 



OF THE CHURCH. 



397 



testimony to herself, to her divine constitution 
and authority for many years. 

In these years she had taught the faith re- 
vealed to her, and had administered her sacra- 
ments and consolations to her children, which 
were among the revealed elements of her spir- 
itual constitution, mission, and office. It was 
simply thus that she bore witness against the 
world, and before its paganism, its wrath, and 
the fierceness of its bloody persecutions to her 
own infallibility, for its conversion and the 
consolation of her dear children. It was thus 
that she affirmed her credibility and main- 
tained her infallibility as a spiritual teacher. 
Her children then had no Scriptures of divine 
authority to bear witness to her character, be- 
cause they had not yet written any, stamped 
with the impress of her seal, and under the 
security of her immunity from error. But 
when, subsequently, they did write them, she, 
in the exercise of her infallible authority, pro- 
nounced upon them, and declared (" defined") 
them what they were ; for she could no more 
dishonor the truth, when thus revealed, than 
she could deny or pervert the original author- 
ity conferred upon her by her divine Master. 
Had she refused the seal and impress of her 
authority to these writings, she had not been 
infallible ; and, in the first age, the Church of 

34 



398 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



all ages had been destroyed. God's promise 
to her had failed, which is an impossible thing. 

She rests, then, upon her constitution by di- 
vine authority and institution for her infalli- 
bility, and upon this infallibility, proceeding 
from divine institution and authority, secured 
by the residence of the Holy Ghost, for the sa : 
credness and certainty of her teaching. She 
was constituted by her divine Master an in- 
fallible teacher ; and hence her teaching is in- 
fallible, whether it be in pronouncing upon 
the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures, 
or in the ministration of her sacraments, or in 
the definition of what the faithful have always 
believed concerning the Immaculate Concep- 
tion. To define, for her children, what she has 
always believed, is comparatively an easy ex- 
ertion of her infallible power. 

Why cannot any man or institution define 
what he or it has always believed ? If the 
Church shall ever come, as doubtless it will, 
when the devotions of its children shall require 
it, to define what she has always believed con- 
cerning the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin 
Mary, she will do it with the unerring preci- 
sion wherewith, under the guidance of the Holy 
Ghost, she has always defined (limited the be- 
lief in) her articles of faith. But to return. 
She was then an infallible teacher before the 



OF THE CHURCH. 



399 



Gospels, Acts, and Epistles were penned ; and 
had borne testimony to the world of the fact. 
When did she lose this character as a teacher % 
But no matter, now. When these Scriptures 
were written by her sainted children, she ex- 
amined them and pronounced — in virtue of 
her infallible authority — upon their truth and 
inspiration. She adjudged them true and in- 
spired. As inspired, she stamped them with 
authority, so far as their truth extended. So 
far as their truth extended ; but as their truth 
did not extend, nor assume so to do, to abro- 
gate her divine authority as a teacher of reve- 
lation to usurp her divine office, to supplant 
her divine mission, to repeal the divine power 
communicated to her constitution ; it assured- 
ly follows that any interpretation of these sa- 
cred writings which would thus despoil her of 
her divine attributes, is unquestionably false. 
Either the Church was not divinely constitu- 
ted, or the interpretation of the Scriptures, 
which robs her of any element of the original, 
divinely delegated power, at first communi- 
cated to her, is manifestly false. Let this di- 
lemma be evaded by any art of logic. She 
teaches that these Scriptures are true and in- 
spired, and upon her infallible authority her 
testimony is taken as true by all her children. 
Hence the veracity and authority of the Scrip- 



400 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



tures in the Church. And, so, not upon two 
propositions, " equally uncertain." To estab- 
lish their authority the appeal is to her infalli- 
bility. There was no other authority to which 
to appeal when the Scriptures were written. 
Mark that. There is none other now. If so, 
who is he ? Where was he born, and when ? 
"Where does he reside ? When did he begin 
to exist, and who are the legitimate successors 
to the original depository of such divine au- 
thority. 

The Church is the sole and exclusive wit- 
ness to the infallibility of the Scriptures. The 
Scriptures, however, are the fundamental rule 
to Protestants, as they are an infallible one to 
Catholics ; and the Church rightfully, and lo- 
gically, also, appeals to them as argument ad 
hominem against heretics. Because all truth, 
on whatever grounds assented to, — whether it 
be legitimate or illegitimate, — is authority to 
the extent of its facts and their rightful appli- 
cation, simply because it is true and justly ap- 
plied. Because there is a power in every re- 
vealed, as in every natural fact, when correctly 
understood and applied, according to its real 
nature, which must be obeyed. Spiritual 
power and authority flow from divine revela- 
tion. This is the foundation of the Church's 
infallible authority. The source of her power 



OF THE CHURCH. 



401 



is her divine institution, which exists precisely 
as it was when it was revealed and communi- 
cated. 

And of course, any subsequent writings, 
whether stamped with her authority or not, — 
if interpreted in accordance with the sense of 
him who gave her constitution, — cannot take 
from her a single element of the original power 
with which she was at first endowed by the 
God who instituted her to teach divine faith 
and revelation to " all nations." Her consti- 
tution, her divine institution, is her infallibil- 
ity. This is the sum of truth in which her 
power exists. The art of the logicians cannot 
well gainsay this conclusion. 

But here the Protestants " shift their ground," 
which is as illogical as their supposed " vicious 
circle" would be, if it were as true as it is a 
patent misstatement of the question. But here 
and now, on their old, as if it were a new po- 
sition, they say again : the Church cannot bear 
witness to herself and to her own infallibil- 
ity ; and that if she does, her testimony is un- 
true and incredible. But wherefore incredible, 
either in the nature of her institution, or in the 
facts of her history, or in their succession in 
the order of time? When her divine Founder 
constituted her his teacher of divine faith, and 
communicated to her her attributes, is it a 
26 34* 



40i 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



reasonable or probable thing to assert that her 
teaching would be incredible until he created 
a witness, other than herself, to vouch for her 
authority ? If so, when the other witness — to 
be so created — came to vouch for her infalli- 
bility, then this witness would need testimony 
to its character, and so on ad infinitum. This 
surely is not a reasonable thing. Is it credible 
that when God was instituting and endowing 
his Church, he failed to communicate to her 
that essentially necessary element to the suc- 
cess of her divine mission which would enable 
her to convince the world, that he left her de- 
ficient, without testimony or evidence to gain 
credence with individual men and "all na- 
tions?" Surely this is an incredible thing. 

So much for the reason and credibility of 
the assertion, tried by the nature of the 
Church. The facts of her history are equally 
conclusive against the assertion. These we 
have already discussed, but they will bear 
some repetition. Who, then, for sixty-three 
years before the New Testament was comple- 
ted, and for eight years before it was began, 
bore testimony to her authority and spiritual 
dominion as a teacher of divine revelation or 
faith? Why, she bore the testimony herself, 
to herself. There was no other being or insti- 
tution to do it. Her enemies then denied, and 



OF THE CHUECH. 



403 



now deny, her authority ; and in no event will 
it be contended that they were, or are, her wit- 
nesses. It was a necessity of nature, as well as 
an ordinance of God, that she should be her 
own witness. This was one of her divinely 
communicated rights, resting on the nature of 
things, as God had constituted nature, as we 
call it; but be it remembered that what we 
call "nature," is God's law impressed upon 
natural things for their security, and not some- 
thing inherent in the order of things which is 
independent of his power and will. This right 
of the Church, then, to bear witness to herself, 
was one of the attributes of authority com- 
municated to her in her divine organization. 
When did she lose it ? Who stripped her of this 
divine attribute ? Luther, Calvin, and Henry 
VIII. Indeed ! By what authority did they 
take away this element of her character with 
which her God had endowed her ? They 
must show a divine command, unmistakably 
revealed, for such assumption, or else be 
branded as the usurpers of divine power. 
This is their position, and no acuteness at 
framing sophisms, no agility in shifting their 
ground, will screen them from a conviction, 
first, by a tribunal of their own selection — nor 
save them, secondly, from the crime of treason 
against the divine mission of the Church. 



404: 



THE DIVINE OFFICE 



But, in conclusion, this assertion that the 
Church cannot bear testimony to herself, is a 
fallacy as old, in spiritual logic, at least, as 
the Pharisees who confronted the blessed Jesus 
with the very same sophism of human arro- 
gance — the same folly of the flesh. These old 
Protestants, as we read in the eighth chapter 
of St. John's gospel, presented themselves be- 
fore the divine Founder of the holy Catholic 
Church, and concluded against his veracity 
and authority and divine mission in these 
words : — " The Pharisees, therefore, said to 
him : Thou givest testimony to thyself ; thy 
testimony is not true. Jesus answered and' 
said to them : Although I give testimony of 
myself, my testimony is true ; for I know 
whence I came and whither I go ; but you 
know not whence I came and whither I go. 
You judge according to the flesh? 

It is now clearly seen that the " vicious cir- 
cle," as a matter of fact, is first insidious and 
then untrue ; that as a matter of serious logic, 
it is utterly absurd. And even as a logical 
puzzle, it is infinitely inferior to the race be- 
tween Achilles and the tortoise, by which the 
artists in these efforts at wit think they have 
demonstrated he could never overtake it, if it 
had a few feet the start in the race of a thou- 
sand. The argument of this famous puzzle is, 



OF THE CHITKOH. 



405 



" let Achilles run ten times as fast as the tor- 
toise, yet if the tortoise has the start, Achilles 
will never overtake him. For suppose them 
to be at first separated by an interval of a 
thousand feet ; when Achilles has run these 
thousand feet, the tortoise will have got on a 
hundred ; when Achilles has run these hun- 
dred, the tortoise will have run ten, and so on 
forever ; therefore, Achilles may run forever 
without overtaking the tortoise." Now the 
simplest solution (without reference to art) is, 
that the phrase " and so on forever" is untrue. 
And as a fallacy of art, its detection is equally 
easy. For the term " and so on forever" is 
carried into the conclusion as an equivalent to 
an eternity of either time or distance, or both ; 
when no such fact is involved, let alone stated, 
in the premises. 

But what will the world gain if the protest 
against the Church's infallibility, in her office 
of teaching divine revelation, were a valid 
protest, in fact and in logic ? Nothing. 
Nothing but an unutterable loss. She would 
gain the conclusion that no man can know 
from the teachings of any system of religion 
whether what is taught be absolutely true or 
absolutely false. Such a conclusion is a loss 
as ruinous to our hopes and consolations in 
time, as it is to all the hopes and consolations 



406 THE DIVINE OFFICE OF THE CHURCH. 

of futurity. Why not then let the children of 
the Church enjoy their undoubted assurance 
and faith in the teaching of their holy Mother, 
the Church ? At the worst, they are as likely 
to be right as those who profess to be guided 
alone by fallible teaching. They can be but 
in error, reposing on fallibility. In fallible 
teaching no man can believe with full and un- 
wavering assurance. To assert an undoubted 
repose and faith in a fallible teacher of divine 
revelation is surely no other thing than a 
crude insanity, or a wild fanaticism. 



THE ENDr 



Established 1837. 

§o0li drstablishmcttt 

IN THE UNITED STATES. 



JOHN MURPHY & CO. 

PEINTERS, PUBLISHERS, 

Marble Building, 182 Baltimore street, 

BALTIMORE, 

[wholesale and retail dealers in 
Catholic, School, Classical, Miscellaneous, and Juvenile 
Books, Blank Books, Paper and Stationery, English, 
French, Spanish, and German Books, Sacred Music, 
Pious Engravings, Prayer Beads, Medals, &c. 

Respectfully solicit the attention of the Catholic community to their Catalogue of 

CHEAP CATHOLIC BOOKS, 

COMPRISING A GREAT VARIETY OF 

STANDARD PRAYER BOOKS, 
Devotional, Controversial, and Theological Works, 

SCHOOL. BOOKS, &c, of tlieir own Publication: 

And to their General Stock, comprising the Largest, Most Varied, and 
Complete Assortment in the United States, which they are prepared to sell, 
Wholesale and Retail, at the Lowest Prices, on the Most Accommodating Termt. 

gg-NEW BOOKS received regularly. FOREIGN BOOKS imported to order. 

FOREIGN BOOK S.— Their arrangements and facilities for importing Foreign 
Works, enable them to offer superior advantages to such as may desire to 
purchase or import to order. 

jg^"Orders are respectfully solicited— to which they pledge themselves to give the same 
careful and prompt attention as if selected in person. 

Particular attention given to the Packing and shipment of orders for distant points, 
The various Steamers, Railroad and Express lines from our city afford every facility for 
•hipping goods to all points — North, South, East and West— with despatch, at low rates. 

BOOKS BY MAIL.— Murphy & Co. beg to advise their friends that they will 
«end by M a i I, p r e-p a i d, any of their o w n aud most of the American Catholie 
Publications on receipt of the advertised price in Postage Stamps or otherwise. 
Foreign and Miscellaneous Books, by Mail, will cost only 1 cent per oz. 
The average for ordinary size volumes amounts to about 30 cts. for an 8vo., 18 cts. for 
a 12mo., 12 cts. for an 18mo. smaller volumes in proportion. Orders by Mail, accompanied 
with the probable amount in current funds or postage stamps, will receive prompt attention. 

J8®"M urpht & Co's Publications are kept constantly for sale by the principal 
Cfttholio Booksellers in the United States, the Canadas, and the Provinces. 

March, 1 86 0. 




Established 183 7. 

JOHN MUEPHY & CO. 
Bookseller*, Publishers, Printers, anb Stationers, 

Have the pleasure of announcing to their friends and the public, that they have removed 
from their old stand, 178, to the new and spacious five story Marble Building 
182 Baltimore street, second house West of their former stand, where they are constantly 
enlarging their stock and variety of Books, Paper, Blank Books, Stationery, 
and Foreign Books, and continue the Printing, Publishing and Book- 
binding departments of their business on a more extensive scale. 

In returning thanks for the liberal encouragement extended for the last eighteen years at 
their old stand, they trust that their enlarged stock and increased facilities 
will meet with that liberal support which they hope to merit by the most rigid; regard to the 
interests of all who may favor them with their custom in the various departments of their 
business. 

In connection with the foregoing announcement, they beg to invite attention to their 
Enlarged Stock, comprising a very extensive and varied assortment of SOOKS in 
General Literature, in every variety of plain and superb Bindings, to which 
constant additions are being made of all new works of merit, as soon as published. 

Their stock of CATHOLIC BOOKS embraces, in addition to their own, all the 
American Publications, together with a large stock of English, Irish, 
French, and Belgian Editions, of the most approved works, to which constant 
additions are being made by direct Importation. 

FOREIGN BOOKS, RELIGIOUS ARTICLES, &c. Their stock in this line comprises 
a very large assortment of Missals, Breviaries and Liturgical Book s, — 
also, THEOLOGICAL and ASCETIC WORKS, generally, together with an extensive 
stock of FRENCH WORKS, in the various departments of Literature, including a great 
variety of Prayer and Devotional Books, in every variety of plain and elegant 
Bindings, to which constant additions are regularly made by direct Importation. 

RELIGIOUS PICTURES, PRAYER BEADS, CRUCIFIXES, MEDALS, MEDAL- 
LIONS, STATUETTES, &c, &c. Their stock in this line is extensive, embracing a great 
variety of styles and prices— and being imported direct, they are enabled to sell very low. 

SCHOOL and CLASSICAL BOOKS, PAPER and STATIONERY. Their stock in this 
line comprises everything requisite for Colleges, Schools, &c, &c. 

BLANK BOOKS, PAPER, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC STATIONERY, COMMER- 
CIAL and LAW BLANKS, &c, &c. Their stock in this line embraces every requisite 
for Counting-Hous e s, Banks, Rail Road Companies, Public Offices, &c. 

BOOK AND JOB PRINTING, BOOK BINDING, &c— Having united with their Book- 
store, in the same building, an extensive Printing Office and Bookbinder y, well 
supplied with the most approved materials, and experienced workmen, 
enable them to offer superior advantages and inducements for the prompt, careful and cor- 
rect execution of every description of Booh and Job Printing, Ruling and Book- 
binding, well worthy the attention of all who may require anything in this line. 

Jgtg"* They take pleasure in announcing to their friends and the public, that they have 
completed their arrangements, by which they are now enabled to keep constantly on hand 
a large and choice assortment of almost every thing required in connection with the Catholic 
Book Business. They deem it unnecessary to enlarge on the advantages, convenience, and 
saving of time and expense, which this combination and concentration of stock affords to 
Bookbuyers, Booksellers, Colleges, Academies, Religious Institutions, Libraries, &c. &c, 
in being able to purchase every thing at one place, at the very Lowest Rates, 
Wholesale and Retail. 

FOREIGN BOOKS. Large Invoices of English, Irish, French and Belgian Editions of 
New and Standard Works, have been recently received, most of which have been pur- 
chased at such rates as enable U3 to offer them at greatly reduced prices. 

BOOKS SUITABLE FOR PREMIUMS.— Their stock is extensive and well worthy the 
attention of all who may require Good and Appropriate Books, at Low Prices. 

jg£g=Careful and prompt attention to all orders. 

jggg-CATALOGUES of Murphy & Co.'s Publications furnished on application. 

2 



Standard Catholic Books, 



Published by MURPHY & CO. 

Jg^= Booksellers, Clergymen, Religions Societies, and others, purchasing for sale or gra= 
tuitous distribution, will be allowed a liberal discount from the annexed prices. 

Orders by mail will receive careful and prompt attention. 

AUDIN. — Life of Luther 2 vols. 8vo. cloth, 3 75 

Life of Henry the Eighth 8vo. cloth, 2 00 

A 'KEMP1S. — Garden of Roses and Valley of Lilies. ..32mo. cl. 25 

cloth, gilt edges 38 imit. turkey, gilt edges 75 turkey, sup. ex. 1 00 

— ^ Following of Christ, with Practical Reflections, Prayers, &c. 

550 pp. 48mo cloth 25 .roan, gilt 50., imit. gilt edges 75 

cloth, gilt 38 turkey morocco, sup. extra gilt 1 25 

fine paper roan 38. 

Large Edition, 32mo., with Reflections, &c, fine paper..... ...cloth 38 

cloth, gilt 50 roan, gilt 75 turkey super extra, gilt 1 50 turk. antique 1 75 

A TREATISE ON GENERAL CONFESSIONS — Conversations 
between Confessor and Penitent. .32mo. .cloth, 25. . . .cl. gt. ed. 38 

BALMES ON EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION.— Protestantism and 
Catholicity compared in their Effects on the Civilization of Europe. 
8vo. cloth, 2 00 library style, 2 50 

BUTLER. — Lives of the Saints — a new, cheap and beautiful edition. 

2 vols, super royal 8vo cloth, plates, 4 50 4 vols... cloth, plates, 5 00 

2 vols sheep, " 5 00 4 vols sheep, " 6 00 

2 vols cloth, gilt edges, 12 ■' 6 00 4 vols -....cloth, gilt edges, 16 " 7 50 

2 vols imit. gilt edges, 20 " 7 50 4 vols imit. gilt edges, 24 " 10 00 

BON AVENTURE, Saint.— Life of Christ.. I8mo cl. 50. .gilt ed. 75 
CHATEAUBRIAND. — The Genius of Christianity . .8vo. cloth 2 50 

cloth, extra gilt, 1 plate, 3 50 sup. ex 9 plates, 6 00 

pannelled sides .5 plates, 450 Morocco Antique gilt edges, 6 00 

CATHOLIC SERMONS. — The Catholic Pulpit, containing a Ser- 
mon for every Sunday and Holiday in the year, and for Good Fri- 
day, with several Occasional Discourses. 

One large volume of 763 pages, 8vo. cloth 2 25. . . ... .Lib. style 2 50 

Universally esteemed the best collection of Sermons in the English language. 
« We know of no language sufficiently forcible in which to urge upon our readers 
the excellence of 'The Catholic Pulpit.' The Sermons contained in it may well 
compete with the mo.-t elaboraie productions of Fenelon or liossuet. Though no 
Anglo-Saxon, we feel a kind of pride in contemplating the gorgeous form in which 
the English language can clothe ideas of which the work before us is a standing tes- 
timony."— Toronto Mirror. 

ONE HUNDRED SHORT SERMONS, being a plain and familiar 
exposition of the Apostles' Creed; the Lord's Prayer; the Angeli- 
cal Salutation; the Commandments of God; the Precepts of the 
Church; the Seven Sacraments; and Seven Deadly Sins. From the 
French of Canon Thomas, of the Cathedral of Liege, Belgium. 
With an Introduction by Rt. Rev. Bishop Spalding. ..12mo. cl. 1 25 
" Every Priest, and every Catholic family in the Union, should possess a copy of a 
work so very valuable in itself, and so strongly recommended by the highest ecclesi- 
astical authorities in Europe."— Bishop Spalding. 

COBBETT.— History of the Reformation in England and Ireland. 

12mo. paper, 25 half bound, 38 cloth 50 

CHALLONER, Rev. Dr.— Catholic Christian Instructed, .paper 19 

flexible cloth, 25 cloth extra 38 

. Think Well On't 32mo. cloth, 19 cloth, gilt edges 38 



Standard Catholic Books, published by Murphy & Go. 



DIXON, Archbishop. — A General Introduction to the Sacred Scrip- 
tures 8vo. cloth, 2 50 library style, 3 00 

Whoever has an English Bible should have Dixon's Introduction by its side to explain 
the text, to direct the reader, and to refute the historical calumnies with which many are 
apt to assail the Catholic version. 

ENGLAND, Bishop. — Explanation of the Ceremonies in use in the 
Catholic Churches of the U. S..12mo. cl. 38. .cl. gt. ed. and sides, 63 
FREDET.— Ancient History.. 12mo. cl. 1 25. .lib. style, mar. ed. 1 50 
. Modern History. .12mo. cloth, 1 25. .lib. style, mar. ed. 1 50 

FATHER FABER'S WORKS — Uniform Series. 

In 6 vols, demi 8vo. Cloth, 75 — cloth, gilt edges, $1 25 per volume. 
The 1th volume — The Precious Blood — will be ready early in March. 

Upwards of 40,000 copies of Father Faber's Works have already been sold in this 
country, and the demand is constantly increasing. Nearly 5,000 copies of his last 
work, (Spiritual Conferences,) were sold in a few months after publication. 

Spiritual Conferences. (Recently Published.) 
The Foot of the Cross; or, The Sorrows of Mary. 
The Creator and the Creature; or, The Wonders of Divine Love. 
Growth in Holiness; or, The Progress of the Spiritual Life. 
The Blessed Sacrament; or, The Works and Ways of God. 
All for Jesus; or, The Easy Ways of Divine Love. 
fE^FATHER Faber's New Work — said to be his best— The Precious 
Blood; or, The Price of Our Salvation, will be ready early in March. 

Few authors in our day have acquired so distinguished a reputation as Father Faber. His 
works are every where read, and every where admired. In England, the home of the author, 
it would seem that the old trite saying, " a prophet is not without praise except in his own 
country," does not hold good in regard to the illustrious Oratorian and his writings. The 
September number of the Liverpool Catholic Institute Magazine speaks of his works in the 
following terms:— "It is no slight proof of the correctness of Father Faber's system to find 
that beyond all question he creates a sensation and a movement among the people, and among 
all classes of the people. The Oratorian services are thronged, and the earliest masses and 
the latest confessionals are alike peopled. The works of Father Faber are found where 
Catholic works never made their way before. You find the blue cover of ' All for Jesus' on 
every drawing-room table, at the desk of the missionary priest, in the enclosed convent. We 
have seen it on the shelf of a confectioner's shop ; it is known in the workman's cottage. No 
Young Men's Society is without it. And it is a very suggestive fact, that in one of our prin- 
cipal ecclesiastical seminaries, whose president is much looked up to as a skilled master in 
spiritual things, there were no fewer than 200 copies of this work to be found." 

FABER.— Devotion to the Pope paper, 12| . . . .flexible cl. 25 

Ethel's Book; or, Tales of the Angels, .sq. 16mo. cl. 38.. gt. 63 

Sir Lancelot. A Legend of the Middle Ages 1 50 

Poems, by F. W. Faber, D. D 12mo. cloth 2 50 

On the Immaculate Conception 32m o. 6| 

FENELON. — Education of a Daughter. .18mo. cl. 50. .cl. gt. ed 75 

Bible Question Fairly Tested 18mo. cloth 38 

FATHER OSWALD cloth, 50 cloth, gilt edges 75 

FIRST COMMUNION 24mo. cloth, 38. . . .cloth, gilt edges 50 

FLORINE, Princess of Burgundy— a Tale of the First Crusades, by 

W. B. MacCabe 12mo. cloth, 75 cloth, gilt, 1 25 

GOSSELIN.— The Power of the Pope in the Middle Ages. 

2 vols. 8vo cloth 3 75 

GAUME, Abbe. — Paganism in Education 12mo. cloth 75 

4 



Standard Catholic Books, published by Murphy & Co. 



HUGHES & BRECKENRIDGE'S Oral Discussion. 
8vo. cloth 1 50 library style 2 00 

Letter on Madai — Speech of Gen. Cass, 8vo. paper 12 

HOLY WAY of the CROSS, 32mo. paper, 6 cloth 12 

KENRICK Archbishop F. P.— The Primacy of the Apostolic See 
Vindicated'. .... .8vo. cloth, 1 50. ..library style, marble edges, 2 00 

■ A Vindication of the Catholic Church 12mo. cloth, 75 

Theologia Dogmatica. Second revised Edition. Just pub- 
lished. 3 vols, 8vo. roan, $6 00 half calf, gilt backs 9 00 

KOSTKA, St. Stanislaus.— Life of. .18mo. cloth, 38. .cl. gilt ed. 63 

LINGARD, Rev. Dr.— History of England abridged. 

1 vol. 8vo. cloth, 2 00 library style, 2 50 

History of England complete, 10 vis, bd. in 5, illustrated 12mo. 

cloth, 10 00 10 vols. bd. in 5, 12mo. half calf 15 00 

History k Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, 8vo cl. 1 50 



LIGUORI, St. Alphonsus.— Life of 8vo. sheep 2 25 

12mo. cloth, 1 25 cloth, gilt edges and sides 2 00 

LITTLE TESTAMENTS of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed 
Virgin paper 10 gilt edges 15 

LIFE OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER, Apostle of the Indies and 
Japan (just published), 12mo. cloth, $1 cloth, gilt 1 50 

LIFE OF SISTER ROSALIE, of the Daughters of St. Vincent de 
Paul: Embellished with a Portrait of this illustrious and devoted 
Sister of Charity (just published), square 16mo. cl. 38. .cl. gilt 63 

LAW & WILBERFORCE'S Letters to their Parishioners, giving 
their reasons for submitting to the Catholic Church paper 18J 

g or per 100 12 50 

LORENZO; or, The Empire of Religion. 32mo. cl. 25.. .cl. gt. 38 
MARTHA; or, the Hospital Sister square 16mo. tinted 

frontispiece, cloth, 38 cts cloth, gilt 63 

MAYNARD, M. L 'Abbe.— Studies and Teaching of the Society of 

Jesus 12mo. cloth 75 

MILNER, Rt. Rev. John.— End of Religious Controversy. 12mo. 

paper, 25 half bound, 38 cloth 50 

MANUAL of the SODALITY. . .32mo. cloth, 25. .cloth, gt. ed. 38 
MOORE, Thos., Esq.— Travels of an Irish Gentleman. . 12mo. cl. 75 
OLIER.. — Christian Catechism of an Interior Life.. .32mo. cloth 25 

cloth, gilt edges, 38 roan, gilt sides 50 

O'CONNEL, Rev. Dr.— Panegyric of Blessed Aloysius..l8mo. cl. 25 
PAUL, St. Vincent de.— Spiritual Maxims. .32mo. cl. 19. .gt. ed. 25 
Life of. .cloth extra, 50 cloth, gilt edges 75 

PAULINE SEWARD.— A new revised and illustrated edition. 

2 vols in 1, cloth 1 25 gilt 1 75 

5 



Standard Catholic Books, published by Murphy & Co. 



PISE, Rev. C. C— Christianity and the Church. ..cap 8vo. cloth 75 

Catholic Bride. . . .18mo. cloth, 50 cloth, gilt edges 75 

PATRICK, Saint, Apostle of Ireland.— Life of. 12mo. cloth 50 

PASTORAL LETTERS of Prov. Councils, 1843 to '58, each 12| 
PASTORAL LETTER, Province of Baltimore, 1855 12* 

SEGUR. — Short and Familiar Answers to objections most commonly- 
urged against Religion. 18mo cloth 38 

SPIRITUAL COMBAT 32mo. flexible cloth, 19 cloth, 25 

cl. gt. ed. 38. . . .roan, 38. . . .imit. gt. ed. 50 turk. sup. ex. 1 25 

SILVA; or, The Triumph of Virtue. By the Author of Lorenzo, 
square 16mo. tinted frontispiece, cloth, 50 cloth gilt 75 

THE NEW GLORIES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, Trans- 
lated from the Italian, by the Fathers of the London Oratory, at 
the request of the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. With a 
Preface, by His Eminence Card. Wiseman. .12mo. cl. 75 — cl. gt. 1 25 
This work, which the Holy Father desires to have translated into all the lan- 
guages of Europe, contains the acts of the recent Martyrs of the Corea, Chochin 
China, and Oceanica, is Republished from Jldvance Sheets, with the Approbation of 
the Most Rev. the Archbishop of Baltimore. It is to be hoped that the Catholics of 
the United States will respond to the desire of the Holy Father, by giving this im- 
portant Work an extensive circulation. 

THE HOLY BIBLE, Pocket edition 24mo. roan 1 00 

roan, gt. ed. 1 25 imit. gilt 2 00 turkey, sup. ex. 3 00 

THE ORIENTAL PEARL, by Mrs. A. H. Dorsey, 32mo. cl. 25 
cloth, gilt edges 38 

THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS connected with the Definition of 
the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary — in Latin and 
English. With a complete list of the Cardinals and Prelates present in the Ba- 
silica of St. Peter, the 8th of December, 1854. Published with the Approbation 
of the Most Rev. Archbishop of Baltimore. Embellished with a splendid Line 
Engraving, being a copy of the Immaculate Conception, struck in Rome, by com- 
mand of the Holy Father, on the occasion of the Definition. 

8vo. fancy paper. 1 00 blue cloth, full gilt. 3 00 

plain cloth, gilt backs 1 50 white calf 5 00 

fine blue cl. gilt backs and sides.. . 2 00 watered silk, white or blue .5 00 

METROPOLITAN, The.— A Monthly Magazine. 

vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 Svo. cloth, per vol. 2 50 Library style, 3 00 

Jg®= A few Complete Sets, in 6 vols., neatly bound in cloth, may be had for $12 net. 

THE CATHOLIC YOUTH'S MAGAZINE, published monthly.— 
vols. I and II. Blue cloth, per vol. 75. .blue and gold, per vol. 1 00 
U. S. CATHOLIC MAGAZINE. 5 vis. 12 50. . . .odd vis. each 1 50 
ULLATHORNE, Bp.— Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. 

18mo. cloth, 38 cloth, gilt ed. 62. . . .cloth extra, gilt edges 75 

WISEMAN, Card.— Essays on Various Subjects. .3 v. Svo. cl. 6 50 

Lectures on Science & Revealed Religion. .2 v. 12mo. cl. 3 00 

Lectures on Holy Week .12mo. cloth, 1 00 

Lectures on the Blessed Eucharist 12mo. cloth, 1 00 

WHITE, Rev. C I., D. D.— Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton. A new 
revised edition 12mo. cloth, 1 25 cl. ex. gilt 1 75 

WILLITOFT, or, the Days of James 1 12mo. cloth. 75 



Standard Prayer Books, 

Published by Murphy & Co. 

With the Approbation of tlie Most Rev. the Archbishop of Baltimore. 

The Publishers beg to call attention to their STANDARD PRAYER BOOKS, as com- 
bining a degree of unsurpassed Elegance, Accuracy, and Cheapness, both as regards 
Paper, Printing, Illustrations, and Binding. They may be had in every variety of plain 
and elegant binding, at prices varying from 12% cents to $10 per copy. 

THE VISITATION MANUAL, a collection of Prayers and Instruc- 
tions, compiled according to the Spiritual Directory and Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, 
Founder of the Religious Order of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, containing 
copious Extracts from the Writings of St. Francis de Sales, referring to the Holy Sacri- 
fice of the Mass, Spiritual Direction, Holy Communion, the Sanctification of the Week, 
and other subjects, comprising much that has never before appeared in English. A beau- 
tiful 18mo vol. printed from large type, on fine paper, embellished with Fine Engravings. 

arabesque 1 00 turk. sup. ex 2 50...turk. sup. ex. panneled 4 00 

roan, gilt edges 1 50 " " antique 3 00. ..stamped velvet 5 00 

imit. mor. gilt edges... 2 00 " " and clasp 3 50. ..stamped velvet and clasp.... fi 00 

velvet extra, full mounted. ..9 00 
The distinguishing feature of this New Book of Devotion is, that its forms of Prayer are 
exclusively confined to those that have received the sanction and apiproval of the Church ; which 
is more than abundantly vouched for, by the Approval and Recommendation with which it 
has been honored by the learned and venerable Archbishop of Baltimore, whose exactness 
in such matters is universally known. 

A NEW and COMPLETE PRAYER BOOK. 

A MANUAL OF CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS, for the Use of the 
Faithful, who desire to Live Piously and Die Happily. 

Published icith the Approbation of the Most Rev. Archbishop of Baltimore. 

Great care has been taken in the compilation and arrangement of this book, with the 
view of adapting it to the wants of the faithful, in every condition of life. The Prayers 
at Mass, Morning and Evening Prayers, &c, arc set in a large and distinct type. In the 
Indulgenced Prayers, the Authorized English Version of the Racolta, has been strictly 
followed. The book has been issued in two different sizes, one in 24mo. and one in 18mo.; 
it is printed on fine paper, and bound in the most substantial and attractive manner, 
embellished with Fine Engravings, in every variety of Plain, Substantial and Elegant 
Bindings. This is decidedlj- the best and cheapest Prayer Book published. 

Manual of Catholic Devotions, a new and beautiful 18mo., of nearly 800 Pages: 

18mo arabasque, plain 1 00 super extra 2 50 stamped velvet 4 50 

arabasq. giltedg. & centre 1 25 sup. extra and clasp 3 00. ...stamped velvet k clasp 5 00 

imita'n gilt edg. and sides 1 50 antique 3 00. ..velvet ex. full mounted 8 00 

Another Edition, 24mo. 

24mo cloth or sheep 50. .. arabesq. gt. edg. & clasp 1 25 antique 2 50 

cloth, gilt edges and sides 75. ..imta'n gilt edges <fc sides 1 25 stamped velvet 4 00 

arabesque, plain edges 75 super extra 2 25. ...stamped vel. and clasp 4 50 

" gilt edg. & centre 1 00 super extra and clasp 2 75. ..velvet ex. full mounted 7 50 

This book forms a complete compendium of Catholic Devotion, containing prayers 
for every state and condition of life, admirably adapted to creaie and loster a spirit 
of true piety. The selections are admirable, and while nothing essential has been 
omitted, everything unsanctioned by the Church has been excluded from its pages. 
Its intrinsic merits are still further enhanced by the manner in which it is got up 
and the method observable in its arrangement. — JV. Y. Metropolitan Record. 

This is an excellent Manual of Devotions.— New York Tablet. 

This Manual purports to be an improvement upon St. Vincent's Manual, more 
copies of which have been sold than any other prayer book published. The additions 
place it among the best prayer books in the country. — Boston Pilot. 

This new prayer book appears with the approbation of the Most Rev. Archbishop 
of Baltimore, which is the most ample guarantee that could be desired for the ortho- 
doxy of its contents, and its adaption to the wants of the faithful.— Catholic Mirror. 

This is one of the handsomest and most complete Caiholic Manuals that we have 
seen. The engravings are finely execuied, and the volume in all its other features 
does credit to the Baltimore press. — New York Herald. 

ST. VINCENT'S MANUAL, New and Enlarged Edition— see pages 
20 and 21, near the end of this Catalogue. 

7 



Standard Prayer Books, published by Murphy & Co. 



CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE TO HEAVEN (the largest & best edition.) 

32mo. 384 pp...cl. or sheep 25 turkey.gilt edges 1 25 turk. sup. ex. clasp 2 25 

fine paper, roan 38 turk. sup. ex. gt. ed. 1 50 elegantly b'd in velvet 3 00 

roan gilt edges 50 turkey antique 1 75...eleg'ly b'd in velvet, clasp 4 00 

roan gilt and clasp 75- velvet extra and clasp, full mounted 5 00 

GEMS OP DEVOTION— a Selection of Prayers for Catholics. 

384 pages, 48ino... cloth 18 roan 25 cloth, gilt edges 31 

roan, gilt edges 38 imit. turk. gilt edges 50 turkey, super extra 1 00 

This is a ne,v and enlarged edition, containing the Office of the Immaculate Conception 
of the B. V. M., the Devotion of the Forty Hours, &c, rendering it the most complete, as it 
is universally conceded to be the best and cheapest Miniature Prayer Book published. 

CHILD'S PRAYER AND HYMN BOOK, for the use of Catholic 
Sunday Schools, with Hymns, &c, set to Music. 50th edition. 

32mo cloth 19 cloth, gilt edges 38 roan, extra gilt edges 50 

DAILY EXEP*CISE; a neat little Miniature Prayer Book. 

48mo... cloth 13 roan, gilt 25 roan, gilt edges 38 turkey, sup. ex. 75 

THE CHAPEL COMPANION, containing Devotions at Mass, &c. 

cloth 25 cloth, gilt edges 38.. ..sheep 25.. ..roan 38 roan, gilt 50.. .turkey, sup. ex. 1 00 

DER GUTE SAME, ein katholisches Gebetbuch. 32mo. 

sheep 25 roan 38 roan, gilt 50 imit. turkey 75 turk. sup. extra 1 25 

GELOBT SEI JESUS CHRISTUS. Ein Gebetbuch. 

sheep 38 roan 50 roan, gilt edges 75 imit. turkey 1 00 turk. sup. ex. 1 50 

WORTES DES HEILS ein gebetbuch fur fromme Christen. 32mo. 

cloth 25 roan 38 roan, gilt edges 50 turkey, super extra 1 00 

DIE HERRLICHKEITEN MARIAS. Von dem heiligen Alphons. 
Liguori. (The Glories of Mary, in German.) 

18mo. roan 1 00 Dasselbe Arab., Gold., &c. 1 50 Dasselbe imit. gilt edges 2 00 

BESUCHUNGEN DES ALLERHE1LIGSTEN ALTARS-SA- 
KRAMENTES, &c. (Visits to the most Holy Sacrament.) 

black sheep 63 roan 1 00 roan, gilt 1 25 turkey morocco 1 50 sup. extra 2 00 

ANDACHTS BUCHLEIN fur die mitglieder der Erzbruderschaft 
des hieligsten und unbefleckten, Herzen Maria 32mo. cloth \S\ 

MUSIC BOOKS. 

The Roman Vesperal, containing the Complete Vespers for the whole year, with Gre- 
gorian Chants in Modern Notation. Published with the Approbation of the Most 
Rev. Archbishop of Baltimore Various bindings, from 75c. to $3 00 

Kyriale; or, Ordinary of Mass ; a Complete Liturgical Manual, with Gregorian 
Chants. For the use of Catholic Choirs and Congregations. Containing the Kyrie, 
Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, etc., according to the different Feasts and 
Sundays of the Year. With an Appendix, including the Hymns, Psalms. Anthems, 
Litanies and Prayers, for the Exposition, during the Exposition and the Benedic- 
tion of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Paper, 25 flex, cloth, 38 cloth, 50 

Kyriale, $c. (same as the above) with Gregoriau Chants in Modern Notation. 

Walter's Music Book. — New Edition. .4 00 Dielmari's Mass, for Three Voices..! 50 

Peters'' Mass, for Three Voices 2 00 KienzVs Mass for Three Voices.... 75 

ENGRAVINGS, &o. 

Ward's Treeof Life; or, the Church of Christ, corrected up to 1847 3 00 

First Communion and Confirmation Certificate 9 by 11 in., per doz. 50 

First Communion Picture — (copper-plate) — plain, 50 colored 1 00 

Circles of the Living Rosary per doz. sheets 38 per 100 2 00 

Scapular Prints.... muslin, per doz. 38..,.in sheets, from 12§- to $1 per sheet. 



PERIODICALS, $c, Published by MURPHY $ CO. 

The Catholic Youth's Magazine, published Monthly, only 50 cents a year. 
The Metropolitan Catholic Almanac and Laity's Directory, 
for the United States, published annually, price 25 cents. 

The Lamp, published monthly, by the London Catholic Publishing Company. Agents for 
the United States: John Murphy & Co., Baltimore. Terms, $1.50 in advance. 

Agents for the Dublin Review, Subscription price only $5 per annum. 

Agents for Le Correspondant, published monthly, in Paris, $10 per annum. 

The Annals of the Propagation of the Faith are published every alternate month, 
and sold at 12>£ cents, for the benefit of the Institution, by J. Murphy & Co., Agents for the 
Institution in theU. S. Circulars for the Collectors, with printed Rules, &c, and the History, 
Organization, Aim, and Indulgences of the Association, can be had on application. 

8 



Hooks for the Rev. Clergy, Published by Order of the Councils, &c. 



Concilia Baltimorensia habita ab anno 1829 usque ab annum 1852 . . 8vo. cloth 2 00 
Concilium Plenarium totius America Septentrionnlis Foedcratre, 1852, 8vo. paper 38 
Concilium Baltimorense ProvincialeVl, nab. an. 1846; VII. 1849, 8vo. pap. each 25 

Concilium Baltimorense. Prooincialc V1TI, habitum anno 1855 8vo p&per 25 

Concilium Baltimorense Provinciate IX, habitum anno 1858, [just pub.] 8vo. paper 25 

Decreta Conciliorum Provincialiumet Plenarii Baltimorensiuni . .8vo. paper 25 

Synodus, Diceccsana Baltimorensis, Mense Junio, 1857, habita 25 

Excerpta ex Rituali Romano, pro administratione Sacramentorum, ad commodiorem 
usum Missionariorum, in Septentrionalis Americas Foederatse Provinciis. Editio 
Altera. (The Prayers and passages for the Administration oj the Sacraments have 
been added in English, French, and German.) A new, enlarged edition. 

32mo. roan, 50 cts roan, gilt edges 75 turkey, super extra 1 50 

In this revised edition the form for Baptizing Adults is inserted conformably to the desire 
of the Holy See, acquiesced in by our Prelates, that it should be used here, as throughout 
the Church generally, instead of the simple form of Baptizing Children ; which has hitherto 
been used for adults likewise. An interesting Note is inserted, by authority, correcting a 
mistake which occurred in an official communication regarding the publication of the bans 
in mixed marriages. This new edition will be required by all the clergy. 

Rituale Romanum. 18mo..rn. 1 00. ...rn. mar. ] 25 rn. gt. 1 50. ...sup. ex. 2 00 

The Ceremonial, for the use of the Catholic Churches in the United States. 

12mo. cloth 1 00 cloth, gilt edges and sides 1 50 

Manual of Ceremonies, for the use of the Catholic Churches in the United States. 

12mo. cloth 50 cloth, gill edges and sides 1 00 

Manual of Piety for the Use of Seminaries . ,32mo. roan 50.. rn. gilt 75.. sup. ex. 1 50 

Ritus et Preces ad Missam Celehrandam in usum pracipue eorem qui sacris initian- 
tur. 32mo. roan 50 gilt edges, 75 turkey super extra 1 50 

Form of Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Prepared by order of 
the Ninth Provincial Council of Baltimore 12£ 

THEOLOGIA DOGMATICA, quam concinnavit Franciscos Patritius Kenrick, 
Archiepiscopus Baltimorensis, Secundis Curis Auctoris. A new revised edition 
in 3 vols. $6. 8vo. black roan, half calf, $9. 

The first edition of the Thcologia Dogmatica being exhausted, a revised edition 
has just been issued from the famous establishment of Hanicq (now Mr. 
Dessain), at Malincs, Belgium, in conjunction with Messrs. Murphy & Co. The 
whole work, formerly consisting of four volumes, is now reduced to three, although 
considerable additions have been made to it; including an Elaborate Defence of the 
Dogma of the Immaculate Conception, and a Catalogue of the Fathers; and Ecclesi- 
astical Writers, with an accurate discrimination of their genuine ivorks, from others 
that have passed under their names. The work appears under the especial sanc- 
tion of the Cardinal Archbishop of Ma lines, who has been pleased to signify a 
very high estimate of its merits. It is issued in a very n e a t style, in three 
volumes, of about 501) page-, double column, 8vo., at the very low price of Two 
Dollars per volume. This edition, though much enlarged, is reduced to Six instead 
of Ten Dollars — a little more than half the price of the former edition, so as to place 
it within the reach of Theological Seminaries, Students, kc , to whom a liberal dis- 
count will be made when purchased in quantities. MURPHVf is. CO. Publishers. 

IN PRESS. — A New Edition of THEOLOGIA MOKALIS, uniform with the above. 

REGISTERS of BAPTISMS, MARRIAGES, and INTERMENTS — With printed 
headings, adnptod to churches in all parts of the country, in books of various sizes, 
from 1 to 8 quires, £ Russia, 8£xl4 inches, $1 per quire. 

PEW BOOKS, with Printed Headings, a new and improved pattern, in Books, 
suited to any number of pews in a church— a page being appropriated to each pew, 
on Superfine Paper, 1U,|x15a inches, and strongly bound. Per quire, $1.25. 

CATHOLIC NOTE PAPER, with a beautiful vignette of the Immaculate Con- 
ception, and other appropriate symbols. Various prices, from $2.5u to $5 per ream. 

HANICQ'S CELEBRATED LITURGICAL PUBLICATIONS.— Missals, Bre- 
viaries, &c. &c, with a large supply of Theological and Devotional Books; 
also Altar Cards, Piors Subjects, Medals, Rosaries, &c, constantly on hand. 

I* 9 



Murphy & Co's New Publications, &c. 



The First Book, in Gregorian, or Square JVo/es, ever printed in the U. S. 

Just published, in a neat 12nio. vol., upwards of 100 pages, price in paper, 25, flexible cloth, 
33, full cloth, 50 cts. 

KYKIALE; or. Ordinary of Mass. A Complete Liturgical 

Manual, with Gregorian Chants. For the use of Catholic Choirs and Congregations. 
Containing the Eyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, etc., according to the different 
Feasts and Sundays of the year. With an Appendix, including the Hymns, Psalms, 
Anthems, Litanies and Prayers, for the Exposition, during the Exposition and the Bene- 
diction of the Most Blessed Sacrament. 

jgE^The Publishers desire to invite particular attention to this little Work, published at 
the special request of many of the Bt. Rev. Bishops, and the Rev. Clergy, Superiors of 
Seminaries, &c. A perusal of the work, and the daily use of it, will give the best idea of the 
treasures it contains, and of the end for which it was composed. Children in the school will 
find in it the A B C of the ritual sung and the first principles of Gregorian Notation, and 
by its aid may be easily trained up to Church singing. Members of the Choirs-will be ena- 
bled to sing according to the rules the Liturgical prayers of the Mass to the sacred tunes of 
the Catholic Church, &e. 

r Just published, uniform in style and price with the above, a new, enlarged edition of 

KYKIALE, &c, (same as the above,) with Gregorian Chants in 

Modern Notation. 

fj^'ln ordering, round, or square notes, should be specified. 

MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS, published by MTJBPHY &, CO. 

The Military Laws of the United States, from the Foundation 
of the Government to the year 1858. By J. F. Callan, Esq. 
Clerk to Military Committee, U. S. Senate, 8vo, law sheep $4 00 

The Naval Laxos of the United States, uniform with the above, 

ust published) 4 00 



Bozman's History of Maryland 3 00 

Burnap's Lectures to Young Men* 1 00 

Sphere and Duties of Woman* 1 00 

Chateaubriand's Genius of Christianity*2 50 
Conscience's Tales, in 6 vols., viz-* 



Ladv Fullerton's Works, in 3 vols. 

Ellen Middleton* 75 

Grantley Manor* 75 

Lady Bird* 75 

Fredet's Ancient History (library ed.)*...l 25 

Curse of the Village, <fcc. 75 Modern " " " *...l 25 

Lion of Flanders, &c 75 J Hall's Designs tor Dwelling Houses 2 50 

War of the Peasants and the Conscript 75 History of Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. ..1 50 

Tales of Old Flanders, &e 75: Lingard's England, 10 vols, in 5* 10 00 

The Miser, Rieketicketack, &c 75 j 1 vol. abridged*- . 2 00 

The Demon of Gold 75 Lynch's Official Rep. Dead Sea Exped'n... .3 50 

Etiquette at Washington* 25 MeSherry's History of Maryland* 1 00 

American Etiquette* 25 j New Constitution of Maryland* 1 00 

Flowers of Love & Memory (Mrs. Dorsey)l 00 Revenue Laws of Maryland 2 00 

* Those marked thus (*) may be had in various fine bindings. 

IT^ 3 The Series of Large Catholic Engravings in course of publication 
by the Catholic Publishing Co. are received regularly. Price 25 cts. or 
$15 per 100 — 13 different subjects received. 

Just Published, and Preparing for Early Publication : 

The IXth Provincial Council of Baltimore — (uniform with preceding 

Councils) — paper, 25 cts. 
Devotion to the Pope, by Rev. F.W. Faber, D.D.. paper 13 — cloth 25 
The New Glories of the Catholic Church. 

The Precious Blood; or, The Price of Our Salvation, by Rev. F. W. 
Faber, D.D., will be ready early in March.; 

Preparing for Early Publication: 
The Life of Cardinal Ximenes. 

A Translation of Feller's Historical and Biographical Dictionary. 
A Series of Instructive and Amusing Books for the Young, &c. &e. 
A New Tale, by W. B. JVlacCabe, Esq. 

10 



Standard School Books, published by Murphy & Co. 

Prof. Sestint's Mathematical Works. 

Elementary Algebra. By B. Sestini, S. J., author of Analytical 

Geometry, Prof, of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in Georgetown College. ..12mo. 50 
A Treatise On Algebra. By B. SESTINI, S. J., author Of " Ele- 
mentary Algebra," "Analytical Goome'try," &c .....12ino. 75 

Elements of Geometry and Trigonometry, by B. Sestini, S. J., 

author of "Analytical Geometry," " Elementary Algebra," &c 8vo. 1 25 

Attention is respectfully solicited to Professor Sestini's works. The author is well known 
as a Professor in Georgetown College, and a Mathematician of distinguished ability. A care- 
ful examination will readily exhibit the superiority of his system. 

Ruddiman's Rudiments of the Latin Tongue; or a Plain and Easy 

Introduction to Latin Grammar : wherein the principles of the language are methodically 
digested, both in the English and Latin. With useful Notes and Observations. The 
cheapest and best Latin Grammar published 12mo, half arab. 38 

Rudiments of the Greek Language, arranged for the Students of 

Loyola College, Baltimore, — upon the bases of Wettenhall 50 

This work is intended for the use of beginners, and comprises within a very small space, 
all that is absolutely necessary for those who wish to study that most perfect of all human 
languages, as the shortest and readiest way to smooth all their difficulties. It is eminently 
calculated to lighten the labors of the teacher, and smooth the way of the student. 

Murray's English Grammar, adapted to the different classes of 

learners, with an Appendix, containing Rules and Observations for assisting the more 
advanced students to write with perspicuity and accuracy. By Lindley Murray. 12mo, 

half bound 20 

In presenting a new edition of Murray's Grammar, which is universally considered the 
best extant, we deem it sufficient to state, that the present edition is printed from an en- 
tirely new set of plates, and that it has been carefully revised, and free from many of the 
inaccuracies and blemishes which are to be found in other editions, printed from old stereo- 
type plates. This, together with the very low price affixed to it, are the only claims urged 
in favor of this edition. 

An Abridgment of Murray's English Grammar, with an Appen- 
dix, containing Exercises in Orthography, in Parsing, in Syntax, and in Punctuation. 

Designed for the younger classes of learners ; 13 

This little Abridgment contains, in a compact and cheap form, a brief outline of the 

elementary principles of grammar, and is well calculated to impart to children the rules 

and definitions of the study, without over-burdening their minds. 

Kerney's Abridgment of Murray's Grammar. — An Abridgment 

of Murray's English Grammar and Exercise, designed to Perfect Students in the Know- 
ledge of Grammar, Parsing, and the Principles of Composition. With an Appendix, 
containing Rules for Writing with Perspicuity and Accuracy. By M. J. Kerney, A. M. 

31st Edition, Revised and Improved 18mo. half bound 13 

This Grammar is used in the Public Schools of Baltimore ; in the Schools of the Christian 
Brothers; and in many of the principal Schools and Academies throughout the country. 

Murray's English Reader.... new edition 20 

Pizarro's Dialogues. Select Original Dialogues, or Spanish and 

English Conversations; followed by a collection of pieces in prose and verse 12mo. 75 

This new edition of a very popular work, by one of the most distinguished instructors in 
the country, is greatly improved, and particularly adapted to the present style of teaching 
and self-improvement. The prior editions have become established as standard in some of 
the best institutions of the United States, and the present doubles its advantages. 

Elementos de Sicologio. Elements of Psychology 75 

Silabario Castellano, Uso de los Ninos 13 — do. las Ninas 13 

German School Books. 

A B Cund BucTcstabir und Lesebuch 13 

Katholischer Katechismus 19 

Kleiner Kateehismus 32mo. 2c; per 100 $1 

Biblische Geschichte des Alien und Neuen Tesiamentes 25 

J3@~A Liberal Din count from the foregoing prices to Booksellers, Teachers, and 
others, purchasing in quantities. XJSP Orders^ will receive careful and prompt attention. 

Muhphy & Co. Publishers, Booksellers, and Stationers, 182 Baltimore street, Baltimore. 



15 



FOKEIGN BOOKS, in Quantities at Low Prices. 

MOSTLY THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE 

London Catholic PuMisMng & Bookselling Co. 

MURPHY & CO. having been appointed Agents for the London Catholic 

Publishing Co., for the United States, have the pleasure of announcing that 

they will keep constantly on hand a full supply of their Publications, which 

they are prepared to supply to the Trade and others, at the lowest rates. New 

Books received regularly. Foreign Books Imported to order. 

PUBLIC LECTURES ON SOME SUBJECTS OF ANCIENT AND MODERN HIS- 
TORY, delivered before the Catholic University of Ireland, by James Burton Roe- 
inson, Esq., Professor of " Modern History." Small 8vo. $1 25 

MAY TEMPLETO V— a Tale of Faith and Love . 1 25 

MEMORIES OF ROME. By Denis O'Donovan, Esq. Author of " Horae Juven- 
iles " &c 1 25 

THE ROMAN CATACOMBS; or, some Account of the Burial Places of the Early 
Christians in Rome. By the Rev. J. Spencer Northcote, M. A. Second edition, 
with considerable additions, both in matter and illustrations, and the whole rear- 
ranged 113 

TYBORNE, and who went thither in the Days of Queen Elizabeth. A Sketch by the 
Authoress of " Eastern Hospitals and English Nurses." 75 

MARGARET DAN VERS; or, the Bayadere. A Novel. By the author of " Mount 
St. Lawrence." , cloth. 1 00 

AILEY MOORE— a Tale of the Times. Showing how Evictions, Murder, and such 
like pastimes are managed, and justice administered in Ireland, together with many 
stirring incidents in other lands. By Father Baptist Small 8vo. flexible cloth, 50 

THE CHURCH OF THE BIBLE; or, Scripture Testimonies to Catholic Doctrines and 
Catholic Principles. Collected and considen d, in a Series of popular Discourses ad- 
dressed chiefly to non-Catholics, by the Very Rev. Frederick Oakeley, M.A., Priest 
of the Diocese of Westminster Small 8vo., cloth lettered, 1 25 

A HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ENGLAND, from the first Dawn of 
Christianity in this Island to the Re-establishment of the Hierarchy in 1850. By the 
Rev. Thomas Flanagan. In 2 large vols. 8vo. containing upwards of 1,200 pages, 
cloth 6 00 

COLLECTIONS ILLUSTRATING THE HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC RELI- 
GION in Cornwill, Devon, Dorsetshire, Somerset, Wilts, and Gloucestershire. In two 
parts, Historical and Biographical. By the Very Rev. George Oliver, D.D., Provost 
of the Diocese of Plymouth - Large 8vo. 3 50 

CEREMONIAL ACCORDING TO THE ROMAN RITE. Translated from the Italian 
of Joseph Baldeschi, Master of Ceremonies of the Basilica of St. Peter at Rome, 
with the Pontifical Offices of a Bishop in his own diocese, compiled from the "Cere- 
moniale Episcoporum ;" to which are added various other Functions and copious Ex- 
planatory Notes: the whole harmonized with the latest Decrees of the Sacred Congre- 
gation of Rites. By the Rev. J. D. Hilarius Dale. New edition, 8vo. cloth 2 00 

GEMS FROM CATHOLIC POETS, with a Biographical and Literary Introduction. By 
Jas. Burke, A.B 12mo. flexible cloth, 31 

THE PHYSICAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 
By D. C. MacCARTHY, Certificated Teacher 8vo. 1 00 

THE YOUTHFUL MARTYRS OF ROME. A Christian Drama, adapted from Fabiola. 

f. By V. Rev. F. Oakley 63 

THE CONVERT MARTYR. A Drama in 5 Acts, from Callista. By F. C. Husen- 

beth, D.D . 63 

THE CHINESE MOTHER. A Drama 63 

GEKALD ; or, Self Conquest. A Tale of the Day. By Miss A. M. Stewart. !6mo. 1 00 
THE TREATISE ON PURGATORY. By St. Catherine of Genoa.. 16mo. cloth 3& 
CHURCHES, SECTS, AND RELIGIOUS PARTIES; or, Some Motives for my Con- 
version to the Catholic Church. By a Master of Arts, formerly a Clergyman of the 

Established Church Small 8vo. cloth letteied, ] 00 

THE BIBLE: ITS USE AND ABUSE; or, An Inquiry into the Results of the Respec- 
tive Doctrines of the Catholic and Protestant Churches relative to the interpretation of 

the Word of God. By the Rev. Paul Maclachlan Pcap. 8vo. cloth, 75 

16 



Recent Foreign Publications. 



THE HOLY SCRIPTURES; their Origin, Progress, Transmission, Corruptions, and 
True Character 18rno cloth, 3 8 

THE FALSEHOOD OF PROTESTANTISM DEMONSTRATED. An Essay. By 
Mgr. J B. Malotj, Bishop o f ' Bruaes. Second edition — revised and enlarged. With 
a Reply to the Belgian Missionary Christian Church established at Brussels Trans- 
lated from the French Paper, 38 

THE PATRONS OF ERIN; or, some Account of St. Patrick and St. Brigid. By the 
Rev. Dr. Todd. Small 8vo ....cloth 25 

THE FOUND AT IONS OF RELIGION EXPLAINED, for the use of Young and Old. 
By the Rev. J. Balmes. Translated from the Spanish by the Rev. Cannon Dalton. 25 

THE SIMPLICITY OF THE CREATION; or, The Astronomical Monument of the 
Blessed Via'in. A New Theory of the Solar System, Thunderstorms, Waterspouts, 
Aurora Borealis, &c, and the Tides. By William Adolph 1 25 

THE LTFE OF THE LADY WARNER, in which the motives of her embracing the 
Roman Catholic Faith, qui ting her husband and children to become a Poor Clare at 
G'avHlin^s, her rigorous life and happy death, are declared. To which is added an 
Abridgment of the Life of her Sister in-law, Mrs. Elizabeth Warner, in Religion Sister 
Marv Clare. Written by a Catholic Gentleman. With a beautiful Portrait. Small 8vo. 
cloth 88 

THE DRAM AS OF CALDERON. Tragic, Comic, and Legendary. Translated from 
the Spanish, principally in the metre of the original, by Denis Florence McCarthy, 
Esq., Barrister-at Law. 2 vols small 8vo. cloth 4 50 

ORATORIAN LIVES OF THE SAINTS. Edited by Father Faber. Translated from 
various languages, for spiritual reading. Sets complete up to present time, 42 vols. $42. 
Any work in the series may be had at $1.13 per vol. 

DE PONTE'S MEDITATIONS, on all the Mysteries of the Faith. 6 vols. 12mo. 
Paper covers, 6 vols. 6 00 sheep, 50 

THE HOLY LADDER OF PERFECTION, by which we may Ascend to Heaven. 
By St. John Climachus 1 25 

GA HAN'S SERMONS AND MORAL DISCOURSES, for all the Sundays and prin- 
cipal Festivals of the year 8vo. 1 50 

THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY. Translated by W. N. Skelly, 12mo 1 00 

THE POPE CONSIDERED IN HIS RELATIONS WITH THE CHURCH, Temporal 
Sovereignties, Separated Churches and the Cause of Civilization. By Count Joseph 
De Maistre * 1 25 

CATHOLIC INTERESTS IN THE XTXth CENTURY. By Count de Montalem- 
bert. A few copies only. 8vo., paper..., 50c. 

TH EC ATITOLTC PSALMIST; or, Manual of Sacred Music; containing the Vespers 
in Latin and English, for all Sundays and Festivals of the year; Chants, Hymns, and 
Litanies, for Benediction, Novenas, and the Forty Hours' Exposition; Instructions for 
Choirs, etc. Compiled by C. B. Lyons, Honorary Member of the Pontifical Academy 
of St. Cecilia, Rome. Price only $1.I2|— by mail, $1.25 

f For the convenience of the Clergy and Clerical Students, an enlarged edition of the 
,£ CATHOLIC PSALMIST " has been published, with an Jlpp>ndix, comprising the 
Gregorian Chants for High Mass, Processions, Holy Week, &c, &c. Price of the 
enlarged edition, $1.38— by mail, $1.50. 

FOREIGN BOOKS. — Just received, and now opening, large invoices of Eng- 
lish. Irish, French, and Belgian Editions of New and Standard Works, com- 
prising a large and varied stock of Missals, Beeviaries, &c. &c, most of which have 
been purchased at such rates as enable us to offer them at greatly reduced prices. 

{$J~The\r stock of Foreign Boohs, and Catholic Foolcs generally, is the largest, most 
varied and complete assortment to be found at anyone Establishment in the United States. 

QlJ~ The New Publications of the Catholic Publishing Company, Richardson $r Son, 
and most of the English and Irish Catholic Publishers, are received regularly, and sold at 
the Lowest Prices. 

$J=Careful and Prompt attention to all orders. M U li P H.Y" & C O. 

Booksellers, Publishers, Printers and Importers, 
Jlgents for the London Catholic Publishing Company, 

Marble Building, 182 Baltimore wtreet, Baltimore. 
17 



HORE DUIRNE. 



Theological, Liturgical and Ascetic Works, 

Direct Importations, kept constantly on sale, in various bindings, and sold at 

the Lowest Prices, by MURPHY & CO., Baltimore. 

SPECULUM ET IDEA BONI PASTO- 

RIS. 12rno. 
THEOLOGIA MORALIS S. ALPHONSI 

DE LIGUORIO. 10 vols. Umo. 
RAZE CONCORD ANTI ARUM SCRIP- 
TURE MANUALE. 8vo. 
BIRLIA SACRA. 12mo. 
NOVUM TEST AMENTUM. 32mo. 
CONCILII TRIDENTINI, CANONES ET 

DECRETA. 32mo. 
CATECHISM US CONCILII TRIDEN- 
TINI. 3 'mo. 
ROMSEE, PRAXIS CELEB. MI3SAM. 3 

vols. 8vo. 
PRONE3 DE BILLOT. 2 vols. 8vo. 
PROCESSIONALE ROMANUM. 8vo. 
8. AUGUSTINI CONFESSION FS. 32mo. 
TRIPLEX EXPOSITIO B- PAULI AP03 
EPISTOLARU i, BERNARDINO A PI- 
CONIO. 3 vols. Svo. 
GURY THEOLOGIA MORALTS. Nevved. 
LIEB ERM ANN INSTITUTIONES THE- 

OLOGICA. 2 vols. 8vo. 
NEYRAGUET COMPENDIUM THEOLO- 

GLE MORALIS. 
PERRONE PRELE0TIONE3 THEOLO- 

GICE. 2 vols. 4to. 
PERRONE PRELECTIONES THEOLO- 

GICE. 4 vols. 8vo. 
PERRONE COMPENDIUM PRELEC- 
TIONES THEOLOGICE. 2 vols. Svo. 
ST. THOME AO.UIN ATIS SUMMA 

THEOLOGICE. 4 vols. 4to. 
ST. THOME AaUINATIS SUM VIA 
THEOLOGICE MINUTA. 2 vols. 8vo. 
ST. THOME AO.U1NATIS SUMMA 

PHILOSOPH1CA. 2 vols. 8vo. 
MALDONATI CO VIMENTARII. 2 vis. 
8vo. 

ST. AUGUSTINI OPERA OMNIA. 16 vis. 
4to. 

ST. AMBROSII " " 4vls. 4to. 
" CHHYSOSTOMI" " 9 vis. 4to. 
" HIERON Y MI »■ « 9 vis. 4to. 
" GREGOR1I MAGNI OPERA OMNIA. 

5 vols 4to. 
" CYPRIANI OPERA OVINIA, lvl. 4to. 
PATROLOGIE CURSUS COMPLETUS. 

Miirne ed. 4to. 
FEKRARIS PROMPT A BIBLIOTHECA. 

8 vols. 4to. 
CORNELIUS A LAPIDE. COMMENTA- 

RII. 20 vols, in 10. 4to. 
SCRIPTURA SACRA CUKSUS COMPLE- 
TUS. Accurante. J. P. Migne. 29 vis. 
4to. 

THEOLOGIE CURSUS COMPLETUS, 
adnotavit vero Simul et edidit J. P. Migne. 
28 vols. 4to. 
BILLUART THEOLOGIZE. 10 vis. Svo. 
S. AUGUSTINI, DE CIY1TATE DEI. 2 
vols, 4to. 

INSTITUTIONES JURIS CANONICI 
PUBLICI ET PRIVAT1, auctore R. de M. 
2 vols. Svo. 
SACRORUM RITUUM CONG REG A- 
TIONIS DECRETA AUTHENTIC A. 
8vo. 

MIGNE, DICTIONNAIRE DE DROI1 
CANON. 2 vols. 4to. 



MISSALE ROMANUM. 12mo. 
" " Svo. 

" « small 4to. 

" " quarto. 

" " small folio. 

" " folio. 

MISSE PONTIFICALTS. Folio. 
CANON MISSE PONTIFICALIS. Pol. 
MISSE DEFUNCTORUM. 8vo.andfol. 
BREVIAR1UM ROMANUM. 4 vols.32mo. 

" 4 vols. 24mo. 

" « 4 vols. 18mo. 

" " 4 vols. 12mo. 

" « 2vols. 4to. 

" ct 4vols.4to. 

BREVIARIUM(Totum)ROMANUM. 8vo. 
" « " 12mo. 

" " " l8mo. 

BREVIARITTM (Totum) FRANCISCA- 

NORUM. 8vo. 
BREVIARTUM AUGUSTINI ANUM. 4 

vols. 12mo. 
BREVIAR1UM ORD PREDICATORUM. 

2 vols. 12mo. 
BRE VI ARIUM MONASTJCUM AD 
USUM ORD. S. P. Benedicti. 4 vols. 
24m o. 

RITUALE ROMANUM. 8vo. 
" " 18mo. 

32mo. 

8vo. 
18mo. 
32mo. 
48mo. 
FRANCISCANO- 



HORE 
RUM. 



DUIRNE 
Svo. 



« " " 32mo. 

HORE DUIRNE BREVARII SACRI 

ORD PREDICATORUM. 32mo. 
MARTYROLOGIUM ROMANUM. 12mo. 
EPISTOLE ET EVANGEL1A. Folio. 
PONTIFICALE ROMANUM. 3vols.8vo. 
GRADUALE ROMANUM, 1854. 8vo. 

Mechlin edition. 
GRADUALE ROMANUM, 1855. Folio. 

Mechlin edition. 
VESPERALE ROMANUM, 1854. 8vo. 

Mechlin edilion. 
VESPERALE ROMANUM, 1855. Folio. 

Mechlin Edition. 
PROCESSION A i.E ROMANUM. 8vo. 
CEREMONIAL E EPISCOPOKUM. Svo. 
CELESTE PALMETUM. 18mo. 
BONA, DE SACRIFICIO MISSE. 24mo. 
CCELESTE PALMETUM. 18mo. 
DUJARDIN, DE OFFICIO SACERD. 
HOMO APOSTOLICUS. 3 vol. 12mo. 
IMPEDIMENTS (DE ) MATRIMONII. 
INDEX L1BRORUM PROHIB1TOBUM 

juxta exempl. rom. anni mdcccxxxv. 

Edit nova. 12mo. 
LIBELLUS LTBELLORUM. 24mo. 
MEMORIALE V1TE SACEUDOTALIS. 
PARAD1SUS AN1ME CHRISTIANE. 

24mo. 

PRECES ANTE ET POST MISSAM. 
MANUALE VITE SPIRITUALIS. L. 
Blosius 

9CAVINT, THEOLOGIA MORALIS 
UNIVERSA. 



THE 

Catholic Youteps Magazine, 

Published with the Approbation of the lost Reverend Archbishops of Baltimore and Cincinnati. 

The Catholic Youth's Magazine is issued monthly, in small quarto 
form, of 32 pages, making at the end of the year a very neat volume of 
384 pages. Its contents are made up of Innocent, Plain, and Instructive 
Moral Tales, Biographies, Travels, Natural History, Amusing 
Anecdotes, Poetry, Moral Lessons on various subjects, &c. &c. 
Embellished with Pine Engravings. 
g^°It will be mailed to subscribers at 50 cts. a year. Single Nos. Q\ cts. 
Clergymen, Teachers, Booksellers, and others, ordering in quanti 
ties, will be supplied at the following rates : 

12 copies for $5 50 copies for $18 \ Terms: 

25 copies for $10 100 copies for $30 J Cash in Advance. 

^■On the receipt of $2, Vols. I. and II. bound in cloth, will be sent pre- 
paid by mail, and the monthly numbers of the current Volume for 1859-60. 

f&Sg'No subscriptions received for less than the current volume, commencing with September. 

J. MURPHY & CO., Publishers. 
Baltimore, September, 1859. 182 Baltimore street, Baltimore, 

The Catholic Youth's Magazine.— Vols. I. and H Complete. 

Neatly bound in blue and gold, with a beautiful Ornamental Title Page — price 
75 cents; blue cloth, gilt edges and sides, $1 per volume. 
A few complete sets in 2 vols, may be had neatly bound in blue and gold. 

BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM NOTICES, &c. 

fftOg^lhe following extract from a letter of a distinguished clergyman, ordering 50 copies, expresses 
the spirit of many similar letters, which we are constantly receiving : " Your Magazine is the best thing 
■which could be stai-ted at present; it has and hops will always have my most cordial approbation, and 
I will not be satisfied until I see it in the hands of every youth under my charge." 

The Dublin Review says :— Every parent and teacher will rejoice to have the advantage of so cheap 
and so well got up a work as the " Catholic Youth's Magazine." 

The Catholic Herald says:— We know of no similar work so well adapted to the minds and tastes of 
Catholic youth. Let parents look to their interest and duty, and subscribe for the Youth's Magazine. 

The New York Citizen says :— It is excellently suited to the roving fancies of youth. The stories 
are neither long nor pedantic ; but contain instruction both of a religious and historical character, 
combined with amusement. The paper is very good, and the print is very excellent— being large type, 
clear and distinct. There are many engravings in this little gem. 

The Catholic Library Magazine says:— It is filled with choico and diversified matter and neatly illus- 
trated. We are glad to learn that it is succeeding well. The price is only fifty cents a year. What 
boy or girl cannot afford a cent a week ? 

The Catholic Mirror says : — The twelve monthly numbers of the year, bound together, make a hand- 
some volume, as well as a very instructive and entertaining book. The very variety contained in it 
makes its perusal pleasant, there being specimens of almost every kind of reading that could interest 
or instruct. Happy would it be if every Catholic family in the United States had this little periodical 
coming every month to do good to all the household, but espocially to the children. Whoever induces 
even 0110 father of a family to introduce this monthly among those entrusted to his charge, will do a 
good work and shall not lose his reward. 



GENERAL AGENTS FOR THE YOUTH'S MAGAZINE. 



BOSTON— W. Keating, 176 Harrison avenue. 
NEW YORK— P. O'Shea, 739 Broadway. 
PHILADELPHIA — P. F. Cunningham, S. 3d st. 

Downing & i/aly, Booksellers, S. 8th st. 
PITTSBURG— George Q.uigley, Bookseller. 



WASHINGTON— O. E. Duffy, Bookseller. 
CINCINNATI— John P.Walsh, Bookseller. 
ST. LOUIS— Thomas Duggan & Co., Booksellers. 
NEW ORLEANS— Thomas O'Dounell, Bookseller. 
it may be had of Catholic Booksellers generally. 

19 



The Most Complete & Elegant Prayer Book Published, 
All the Principal Devotions in Large Type. 



Approbation of the Mt. Rev. the Archbishop of Baltimore. 

St. Vincent's Manual, revised by a Very Reverend 
Clergyman, Examiner of Books, is approved by me, and 
recommended to the faithful of my charge. 

Given under my hand at Baltimore, this 9th day of 
November, 1859. -\ FRANCIS PATRICK, 

Archbishop of Baltimore. 

Just published, in an elegant and attractive volume of nearly 1000 pages, 
from entirely new stereotype plates, in two different sizes, in 18o and 
24o, and embellished with 13 New & Beautiful Engravings, 
in the finest style of the art ; in various bindings, new and beautiful 
styles, from 75 cts. to $10 per copy. 

A New, Revised and Enlarged Edition of 
Originally Prepared for the use of the Sisters of Charity in the United States. 

The Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's having desired to introduce such 
alterations and improvements as would adapt this Popular Prayer Book, 
which is the Ordinary Manual, not only of their community, but of thou- 
sands of Pious Catholics throughout the United States, Canada &c, have 
introduced into this Edition, fuller instructions on the Sacraments, New 
Devotions for Mass, the Way of the Cross, the Vesper Hymns of the 
Year, with Instructions on the various Scapulars, the Forty Hours' Devo- 
tion, a Treatise on Indulgences, &c, and the translation of the Indulgenced 
Prayers, to conform to the authorized English version of the Raeolta. 

The Publishers, encouraged by the strong Recommendations and liberal 
encouragement extended not only by the Pastors of the Church and the 
Laity, to the former edition, of which upwards of 50,000 copies were sold 
in a few years, have spared no expense to render it still more deserving 
of their approval. The present Edition has been Stereotyped anew, in 
the best possible style, availing themselves of all the latest improvements 
to adapt it to the convenience of the reader. The Devotions in constant 
use, such as Morning and Evening Prayers, Devotions for Mass, &c, are 
printed from beautiful large type, and throughout the entire Book, 
the greatest care has been observed, in the selection of a clear, bold 
and distinct type, easily read, and not fatiguing to the eye. 

The Publishers believe that they can safely recommend this, as the 
handsomest and most complete Prayer Book ever issued in this country. 

They refer with pleasure to the approbation of the Most Rev. the Arch- 
bishop of Baltimore, and to the recommendations to the former edition. 

^©"Early orders from the Trade, Religious Communities, and others, 
respectfully solicited. MURPHY & CO., Publishers, 

182 Baltimore street, Baltimore. 

SO 





Every Catholic Family ought to have at least one 
copy of this Book in their house; it contains the 
Approved Prayers, adapted to all occasions 
and circumstances. 



A STANDARD CATHOLIC PRAYER BOOK. 

RECOMMENDED FOR GENERAL USE. BY THE 

Most Kev. Archbishop of Baltimore, and the Bight Bev. Bishops of the TT. S. 

Who composed the Seventh Provincial Council, held in Baltimore in May, 1849, and the National 
Council in May, 1852, as being the most Complete, Comprehensive, and Accurate 
Catholic Prayer B o o k published in the United States. 

SAINT VINCSNT'S MANUAL: 

▲ Selection of Prayers and Devotional Exercises, originally prepared for the use of the Sisters 
el Charity in the United States, with the approbation of Superiors. 

Bevised, Enlarged, and Adapted to General Use. 
APPROBATION OF THE MOST REV. ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE, AND THE 
RIGHT REV. BISHOPS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Considering St. Vincent's Manual as one of the most comprehensive and judiciously compiled 
Prayer Books, I take great pleasure in recommending it to the Faithful. 

Baltimore, April 17, 1848. t SAMUEL, Abp. of Baltimore. 

I cheerfully concur in the foregoing approbation of the Mt. Rev. Archbishop of Baltimore. 

Pittsburg, April 24, 1848. t MICHAEL, Bp. of Pittsburg. 

I have examined St. Vincent's Manual -with some attention, and find it not only more comprehen- 
sive than any Prayer Book now in use, but also better adapted to the -wants of the Catholic community 
tt large, to -whom I take great pleasure in recommending it. t RICHARD PIUS, Bp. of Nashville. 

St. Vincent's Manual is an Encyclopedia of Devotional Exercises, more complete, we think, than 
any Prayer Book in any language. t JOHN BAPTIST, Bp. of Cincinnati. 

I fully concur with the Most Rev. Archbishop, and other prelates above mentioned, in approving 
and recommending St. Vincent's Manual. IG. ALOYSIUS REYNOLDS, Bp. of Charleston. 

We concur in the foregoing approbations and recommend the work in our 

RESPECTIVE DIOCESSES. 



t JOHN, Bp. of New York, 
t JOHN BERNARD, Bp. of 
t BERNARD O'REILLY, Bp. of Hartford, 
t AMEDEUS, Bp. of Cleveland, 
t JAMES OLIVER, Bp. of Chicago, 
t JOHN LAMY, Vicar-Apostolic of New Mexico, 
t JOSEPH, Bp. of St. Paul, 
t J. B. MIEGE, Bp. of Indian Territory, 
t JOS. S. ALEMANY, Bp. of Monterey, 
t F. N. BLANCHET, Abp. of Oregon City. 
T AUG. M. M. BLANCHET, Bp. of Nesqualy. 



t MICHAEL, Bp. of Mobile. 
♦ ANTHONY, Bp. of New Orleans, 
t MATHIAS, Bp. of Dubuque, 
t JOHN JOSEPH, Bp. of Natchez, 
t RICHARD VINCENT, Bp. of Richmond, 
t JOHN, Bp. of Albany. 

t PETER PAUL, Bp. of Zela and Admr. of Detroit, 
t JOHN, Bp. of Buffalo, 
t ANDREW, Bp. of Little Rock, 
t JOHN MARY, Bp. of Galveston, 
t JOHN MARTIN, Bp. of Milwaukie. 
t MARTIN JOHN, Bp. of Louisville. 

I most cheerfully concur in the foregoing recommendations, and earnestly recommend the use of 
St. Vincent's Manual to the Faithful of my Diocese. 

Toronto, 6th January, 1851. t ARMANDUS FR. MY., Bishop of Toronto. 

We approve St. Vincent's Manual, and recommend it to the Faithful of our diocese, as a book well 
adapted to nourish their piety. We have added to the table which exhibits the days of fast, of 
abstinence, and of obligation in the United States, that which is observed in the diocese of Montreal. 

Montreal, Oct. 11, 1850. t IG., Bishop of Montreal. 

BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 

" Without exception tbis is by far the best Catholic Prayer Book in our language. It was originally 
prepared for the use of the Sisters of Charity ; and in adapting it for general use, such additions as 
the WAY OF THE CROSS, the prayers of BONA MORS, MEDITATIONS FOR EVERY DAY IN THE 
MONTH, the SCAPULAR, LIVING ROSARY, MONTH OF MARY, &c, give it that standard value 
that will make this the most popular of all our excellent prayer books." Pittsburg Catholic. 

" The work is neatly executed ; and for intrinsic merit, as a manual and collection of devotions, we 
would give it the preference over any other that we know in English. Our reasons are, its greater 
variety of exercises, and especially its large number of LITANIES." Freeman's Journal. 

" The excellence of this prayer book consists in the accuracy which characterizes its various parts, 
and In the numerous prayers and instructions which have been introduced into it. It contains full 
explanations of all the principal observances of Catholic piety, and of several devotions which have 
never been published in any other English prayer book, for instance ; the MONTH OF MARY, the 
LIVING ROSARY, the ARCH-CONFRATERNITY FOR THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS, RULE 
OF LIFE FOR A PIOUS CHRISTIAN, &c. The Prayers before and after Communion and Confession 
are very copious, and the Litanies are numerous. One of the most useful additions to the work is 
the Burial Service in Latin and English for children and adults, which will enable those who assist 
at that ceremony to follow the officiating clergyman. The Psalms and other devotions for the evening 
service of the church are arranged to suit the different festivals that occur during the year. In short, 
this Manual may truly be said to be the most comprehensive book of the kind that has ever been 
issued from the press in this country. It is very handsomely executed, and is embellished with several 
fine Engravings. Let all purchase this book who wish to be provided with a complete manual of 
Catholic piety." U. S. Catholic Magazine. 

" Mr. Murphy, of Baltimore, has just issued a new Catholic Prayer Book, which we pronounce, with 
out fear of contradiction, to be the best which has yet come within our knowledge. It is beautifully 
got up— printed with new type, on excellent paper— illustrated with several fine engravings, and illu- 
minated title — presentation plates, &c. and can be had in any kind of binding." Truth Teller. 

" The publisher has placed the Catholics or the United States under an obligation in issuing this 
truly elegant and useful volume, which, it is to be hoped, they will repay by a liberal patronage for 
their mutual benefit." Baltimore Sun. 

21 



THE CATHOLIC 

publishing & ^(tolling dj^mpttg 

OJP LONDON". 

CAPITAL, £40,000, in 40,000 Shares of £1, 
or $200,000 in Shares of $5 each. 

NO ONE LIABLE beyond the amount of SHARES for which he Subscribes, 

PROVISIONAL DIRECTORS. 
WM. B. TUENBTJLL, Esq., 3, Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn. 
JAMES BUKKE, Esq., 12, Leverton Street, Kentish Toivn. 
HOWAKD DUDLEY, Esq., 12, Holford Square, Pentonville. 
Mr. CHAELES DOLMAN, 61, New Bond Street. 

Manager— Mr. CHAELES DOLMAN. 
Solicitor— M. J. GEOGHEGAN, Esq., 50, Lincoln's Inn Fields. 
Bankers— LONDON JOINT-STOCK BANK, Pall Mall. 
Secretary— Mr. WILLIAM MAESHALL. 

Offices, 61 New Bond St., & 22 Paternoster Bow, London- 
Extracts from tlie Prospectus. 

At the present time, when the progress of Catholicity demands the utmost expansion of litera- 
ture to repel the erroneous statements of adversaries jealous of such progress, it becomes the 
duty of Catholics to unite, and avail themselves of every means at disposal, to advance Catholic 
Literature to the greatest possible extent. 

The possession of the valuable copyrights of many of the most important current works, such 
as "Dr. Lingard's History of England,'' several of Cardinal Wiseman's most celebrated pro- 
ductions, and numerous other valuable books, many of which are stereotyped, and of which the 
sale, already considerable in the colonies, as well as in this country, is capable of being greatly 
extended, renders it certain that a large profit can be realized on the existing propert}^ ; whilst, 
by increased capital, the publication of many other works important to Catholic Literature will 
be secured. By calculations based on experience, it is certain that a return of from 10 to 15 per cent, 
may be obtained on the capital employed. 

In bringing the objects of the Company before the notice of the public, no extraordinary efforts 
or any great show of names have been made in order to attract attention ; yet the Directors are 
able to announce that the Shareholders already number seven hundred, holding from a single 
share up to one hundred, amongst whom are several prelates and dignitaries of the Church, and 
many of the clergy and influential laymen, and that the list is being daily increased. 
' "While calling upon Catholics generally to make known the claims of the Company for support* 
the Directors desire to impress upon them that it will become the means of giving additional 
strength to the Catholic religion in these countries, by causing a great increase of proper, useful, 
and truthful literature, and by the publication of works which few, if any, individual Catholic 
publishers would undertake. It also presents to those who wish to invest their money, a safe 
mode of doing so, there being every certainty of a secure and profitable return. 

It will be seen, from the following extract from the Memorandum of the Association, that the 
Company desire to aid existing bookselling establishments to the best of their abiiity, and that 
restriction or monopoly forms no part of their plans: — "The objects for which the Company is 
established are the publication and sale of Works connected with Catholic Literature in all its de- 
partments, and the general business of bookselling and bookselling agency, and the sale and agency 
of Pictures, Prints, and such other articles as are incidental thereto or connected therewith." 

Application for Shares to be made to the Secretary, Mr. WILLIAM MARSHALL, at the Offices 
of the Company, No. 61, New Bond Street, and 22 Paternoster Sow, London, or to 
J HN M UR PHY tt C 0. , Agents for the V. States, 182 Baltimore Street, Baltimore. 

4®=" The attention of the Rt. Rev. Bishop3, the Rev. Clergy, and Laity of the U. S. is respect- 
fully solicited to the aim and objects of this Company— Parties desirous of encouraging this enter- 
prise, will have the double advantage of securing a good stock, likely to pay an annual dividend 
of from 10 to 15 per cent, and at the same time aiding in the dissemination of Catholic truth. 
jg®= Several of the Rt. Rev. Bishops, of the U. S. have already subscribed liberally to this stock. 
jjjf^Partios in the U. States, who may desire to secure annual payments to friends in England, 
Ireland, or Scotland, will find this stock well suited to that purpose. 

4@Ti>IUKPHY & Co. will keep the Company's Publications regularly on sale. at. Zom rate*. 



8flt$ (Mhm |ubIMuttj djoropng of London. 

The Second Annual Ordinary General Meeting of the Company was 
held on the 26th May, 1S59, at the Hanover-square Rooms, 4, Hanover- 
square, London : "War. B. Turnbttll, Esq., in the chair. 

Brief Extracts from the Last Report of the Directors. 
"The Directors of the Catholic Publishing and Bookselling Company, 
Limited, in presenting this, their third Report, have much gratification in 
stating that the hopes they entertained in the formation of the Company, 
as expressed in the original prospectus, have been amply sustained, and 
their desire to popularize sound Catholic literature, has met a wann pub- 
lic response, in evidence of which, the Directors are able to state, that 
from the date of the last Report to the present day, the capital stock of 
the Company has been increased by the extension of 10,873 shares issued 
in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, and the demand con- 
tinues of a steady and increasing character : thus making the total num- 
ber of shares disposed of up to this date about 23,000." 

" The Directors therefore, feel justified in congratulating the shareholders 
on the continued prosperity of the Company, which is now commencing 
the third year of its operations. The financial report shows that the 
Company is rapidly consolidating its strength in a commercial point of 
view, and therefore the Directors are again enabled to recommend that a 
dividend be declared at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum. This grati- 
fying fact proves that in undertaking the duty of endeavoring to dissemi- 
nate Catholic literature, by agencies not hitherto in action, the Company 
has entered on a path not only honorable in itself, as aiding in the spread 
of religious truths far and wide, but also conducive to the prosperity of 
the shareholders, who derive a larger and steadier profit than they would 
from many of the numerous projects which on all sides invite investment. 
It is most cheering thus to find that the battle against error in error's own 
boasted stronghold, the press, is linked with results which bring substan- 
tial advantages to those whose capital is the weapon wielded in the 
honorable conflict." 

" From India, as before, there comes a most cheering voice of encourage- 
ment. The progress of the Company in India has been marked by cir- 
cumstances of the most gratifying character. In other distant countries 
the work of the Company progresses well." 

The American agent reports that a considerable number of shares have 
been sold, and great interest manifested in the extension of the Company 
in the United States." 

"The Directors being anxious to provide for the young as well as for those of more 
advanced years, have entered inio arrangements with a FRENCH ASSOCIATION FOR 
THE PUBLICATION OF LARGE CATHOLIC ENGRAVINGS, to issue a series of 
these, with the text in English. The object of this Association is to give, at a very low 
price, large well-executed illustrations of the principal subjects of the Catholic religion. 
Upwards of 120,000 cop.es of the first enqravings have been sold in France. These, 
indeed, are books also, since they contain a text which is explanatory, with evidences of the 
truth represented by the picture, so that the text and design are mutually descriptive. 
There is nothing in the religious picture-trade of the present day that approaches in its 
kind to these large Catholic Engravings. The work of a missionary of the Society of 
Jesus, they are striking in design, accurate also iu exposition of doctrine and morals, and 
are in every respect worthy of the object for which they are intended. The Directors 
entertain no doubt that the diffusion of these beautiful prints will be a most important 
auxiliary in Catholic education." 

The attention of the Catholics of the United States is respectfully invited to the 
foregoing extracts, as a gratifying evidence of the prosperous condition and success 
of this Company. They have already issued several very valuable Books, and havo 
announced some very important works for early publication. The undersigned is pre- 
pared to supply Orders for the STOCK, PAY DIVIDENDS, and to give all necessary 
information to »uch as may desire to invest in the Stock of this Company. 

JOHN MURPHY, 182 Baltimore street, Baltimore, 
Agent in the Uniedt States for the LondonCatholic Publishing Co, 

93£ 



THE LAMP, 

Jto Pttstr»teJr llappe at Instate anfo (fntertatomt. 

Issued in Weekly and Monthly Parts, 

By the London Catholic Publishing Company. 

Edited by James Burke, A.B., Barrister at Law. 

Author of "Abridgment of Lingard's England," "Memoir of Moore," &c. &c. 

The Lamp contains a large quantity of instructive matter, deeply 
interesting Tales with beautiful Illustrations, the Lives and 
correct Portraits of distinguished Characters, Yiews of new Cath- 
olic Buildings, Essays by eminent "Writers, Poetry of a high charac- 
ter, Beviews of and Extaacts from the newest and most agreeable 
Books, Abstracts of important Lectures, entertaining Varieties, Notes 
on Leading Events, Progress of Science, and information as to Public 
Situations, &c. 

Eight of the Monthly Parts contains 64, and four 80 pages each, 
Embellished with from 8 to 10 Pine Illustrations, on Wood, 
executed in the finest style of the art ; making at the end of the year 
a beautiful volume of upwards of 800 pages 4to., embellished with 
upwards of 100 Fine Illustrations, for $1.50 per annum, in advance. 

Extracts from some of the Opinions of the Press. 

" The Lamp is destined, we trust, to form for many years to come the companion and 
the instructor of the fireside. " — Dublin Review. 

" The Lamp continues to prosecute its course, and labors in good earnest to fill a void 
long felt."— Rambler. 

" We heartily wish it success, as one of our most useful publications, and hope that it 
will long continue, to nourish under the editorship of Mr. Burke, whose ability is unques- 
tioned."— Catholic Standard. 

" We believe there never was a publication of the kind which combined so much of 
cheapness and excellence in its contents as the Lamp." — Tablet. 

" An excellent Catholic miscellany ; useful and entertaining." — Freeman's Journal. 

"There is one great satisfaction in noticing this work at its periodical appearance — 
namely, the safety with which every paragraph it contains may be recommended. — Cath- 
olic Telegraph. 

" The Lamp continues to prove worthy of the commendation we have frequently felt 
ealled upon to award it." — Nation. 

Murphy & Co. have the pleasure of announcing that they have 
made arrangements for supplying this Popular Periodical to the 
Catholics of the United States, in monthly parts, at $1.50 per annum, 
in advance. The first number will be ready in March, 1860. 

iLTf^The low price at which this work is furnished, renders pay- 
ment in advance indispensable. No attention paid to orders unaccom- 
panied with the amount of subscription. 

fCp^A specimen number will be supplied on application. 

J. MUKPHY & CO. 
Agents for the London Catholic Publishing Company, 
182 Baltimore street, Baltimore. 
34 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Jan. 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Dn\,e 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



An Essay on the Harmonious Relations bbtweb» 
Divine Faith and Natural Rsason. To which, 
are added Two Chapters on the Divine Office of the 
Church. By A. C. Baine, Esq. Witb the appro- 
bation of the Most Rev Archbishop of Baltimore. 
Baltimore : Published by John Murphy &, Co. 

This work is given to the public accompa- 
nied with the approbation of the Most Rev. 
Archbishops of Baltimore and San Francisco. 
It is the tribute of a distinguished member of 
the bar, who, having been led by the grace of 
God into the true and only path of salvation, 
wishes to testify his love and respect for our 
Holy Mother the Church, who has so lately 
adopted him as her child, and taken him under 
her gracious protection. 

In this volume, the learned judge, in a lucid 
and forcible manner, places before our minds 
the harmonious relations existing between Di- 
vine faith and natural reason. This is a well- 
selected subject, and one worthy of earnest 
study and contemplation ; for it is a theme 
which should draw forth from our hearts fer- 
vent aspirations of love for God, gratitude and 
admiration for the admirable and inconceivable 
effects of His divine providence and infinite 
wisdom. 

By an attentive perusal of this work, it will 
be seen that they, who assert that Divine Reve- 
lation is in direct opposition to human reason, 
fall into a grievous error. Divine Revelation 
may be above, but never can be against our 
reason. For God, being an infinitely penect 
being, possesses the knowledge of an infinite 
number of truths, far above the limited com- 
prehension of man, which, whenever it pleases 
Him, He can reveal ; and being the fountain- 
head of all truths, the propositions which He 
reveals are necessarily true and beyond the 
slightest shadow of a doubt. The author 
beautifully remarks that the relations existing 
between reason and divine faith consists in the 
obedience of the former to the latter ; and that 
" the Church, in teaching the Divine Revelation 
committed to the Apostles, usurps no province, 
restrains no legitimate operations, and violates 
no real sanction of either reason, common sense 
or experience." 

His style is, as the learned Archbislrp- Ale- 
many has remarked, " rather new yet forcible — 
familiar yet conclusive ;" sometimes, however, 
our author is obscure, and his language gram- 
matically incorrect. M. M. 



